Meanwhile, back in the brutal world of French slapstick, Ernest Bourbon loves a beautiful young schoolgirl -- this is France in 1912, so we can assume that it's all right, and even if it isn't, it was thought funny back then. She refuses to give in to his blandishments and his heart is broken. Clearly a case for the surgeons to deal with, right after cocktail hour at school.
This lacks the more elaborate camera trickery of the better-known Onésime shorts, although there is one pratfall beautifully augmented by running the camera in reverse -- see if you can spot it. What it does possess is a brutality that would make most American slapstick fans blanch -- and fans of the Italian variety yawn in boredom. Tastes vary from country to country and era to era.
This lacks the more elaborate camera trickery of the better-known Onésime shorts, although there is one pratfall beautifully augmented by running the camera in reverse -- see if you can spot it. What it does possess is a brutality that would make most American slapstick fans blanch -- and fans of the Italian variety yawn in boredom. Tastes vary from country to country and era to era.