The Lumière Brothers' First Films (1996)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A collection of short films made by the Lumiere brothers, a team of pioneering filmmakers in turn-of-the-century France. |

Plot Keywords:

London | Paris | Comedian | Snowball Fight | Card Game

Cast

Antoine Lumière	...	Himself - Lumières' Father, Playing Cards (from 'Partie d'écarte (1895)')
Auguste Lumière	...	Himself (from 'Repas de bébé (1895)')
Mrs. Auguste Lumiere	...	Herself (from 'Repas de bébé (1895)') (as Mrs. Margaret Lumière)
Bertrand Tavernier	...	Narrator
Félicien Trewey	...	Himself - Playing Cards (from 'Partie d'écarte (1895)')
M. Winckler	...	Himself - Playing Cards (from 'Partie d'écarte (1895)')

Runtime:

61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Association Frères Lumière

Movie Connections:

Edited from Démolition d'un mur (1896)

Very important historically but probably not to everyone's taste

I enjoyed this film but I really doubt if the average viewer would be all that thrilled by this documentary about the earliest films of the Lumière Brothers. The reasons I liked it were probably because I am a history teacher and am also a real fan of early cinema--having watched quite a few films by Edison and Méliès. I understand that early "movies" weren't actually anything like the films we see today, as they just showed everyday people doing very mundane activities for only about a minute or less! Some, such as THE KISS, have endured but most have practically disappeared--mostly due to lack of interest. The Lumière films each lasted 50 seconds and give small snippets of information about life in the 1890s and early 1900s.

The narration by director Bernard Tavernier is just fine and the clips are interesting. However, he mostly just describes the action in the clips and only gives a little bit of background information or comments about the camera-work. I really wanted more--such as biographical information and innovations. So, although very interesting, the movie seemed just a bit superficial and incomplete.