IMDb > Entr'acte (1924)

Entr'acte (1924) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   876 votes
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Director:
René Clair
Writers:
Francis Picabia (screenplay)
René Clair (adaptation)
Contact:
View company contact information for Entr'acte on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
4 December 1924 (USA) more
Genre:
Short more
Plot:
An absolute dada movie. Somebody gets killed, his coffin gets out of control and after a chase it stops. The person gets out of it and let everybody who followed the coffin dissapear. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
an eccentric, successfully experimental film, doing anything worth doing technically more (6 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Jean Börlin ... Le chasseur au chapeau tyrolien / Le prestidigitateur
Inge Frïss ... La ballerine (as Mlle Frïss)
Francis Picabia ... Un homme qui charge le canon
Marcel Duchamp ... Un joueur d'échecs
Man Ray ... Un joueur d'échecs (as Man-Ray)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Darius Milhaud
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
22 min
Country:
France
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Silent
Filming Locations:
Roof, 15 - Théâtre des Champs Elysées, avenue Montaigne, Paris 8, Paris, France
Company:
Les Ballets Suedois more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The ballet Relâche was performed for the first time at the Théâtre des Champs Elyseés in 1924. It is based on a book and with settings by Francis Picabia, a ballet in two acts commissioned and staged by the Ballets Suédois of Rolf de Maré, choreography by Jean Borlin. This film was shown between the two acts, with music by Erik Satie. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Case of Marcel Duchamp (1984) more

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User Comments

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12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful.
an eccentric, successfully experimental film, doing anything worth doing technically, 7 February 2006
10/10
Author: MisterWhiplash from United States

We were shown this film in a class where at least once during each class, I start to nod off to sleep. Maybe it's the time of day, or the too-dark lights, but even during one of the Jean Vigo films we saw it didn't grab me. This one did, however, as it is one of the best short films of the 20's, or at least one of the more ambitious ones of the time. There are plenty of Freudian symbols, or maybe spoofs and in-jokes on the symbols (i.e. phallic imagery, cannons, guns, balls, and obsessions with looking up women's skirts).

But more importantly there is an almost need to break through anything expectable. Unlike Bunuel's Un Chien Andalou, however, Entr'acte even goes for the manic and cartoon-like. Like Bunuel's film, there COULD be a certain thread of a story in the proceeding, if you try to take one to mind- here the story could be the unexpected tragedy of death turned up on its own head. However there is also the latter part of the film, which involves a large group running after (in trademark, hilarious fast-motion film) a hearse running down a road. It's a kind of peak of stimulating silent-film cinema, where everything being done can now be just as easily done- and is- on a daily basis by music video directors.

Yet Clair is so inventive with his techniques, of pushing a speed and tempo with his style, that it works well despite making no sense on the surface. It's a film made in the heights of French impressionism and surrealism, and the almost sheer confidence of the filmmaker here propels it into being unforgettable in a way. Most will seek out the Bunuel early works first, of course, but along the way this is worth a shot. At the least, you'll have your own interpretation once its done, not shoved down your throat.

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