Early Cinema: Primitives and Pioneers (1895-1910)
My BFI films exploration continued with a collection of 60 short films from the early years of movies. Ranging from Lumiere's test like footage to the early scripted movies. The range is wide and so is the quality, some are absolutely brilliant and some are only for the film historians to get any kicks out of. I'm not going to go thru them all individually, but I'll give a little info about each segment. I'll list them as they are on the DVD by the producers.
The Lumiere Brothers
The men who started it all. Most of their work are documentary style time pieces, short clips of everyday action. Like firefighters rushing to the fire, train arriving to the station, workers leaving a factory, mother and father feeding a baby, people throwing snowballs, people playing poker, footage of the Niagara Falls, bullfighting and so on. The firefighters and fire was a really popular theme in the early cinema. Also a moving train was a common thing featured in the early works. The really remarkable pieces of these are Le jardinier et le petit espiege (1895), which is the very first fictive movie that was publicly displayed in the history of cinema. As you can see from this, comedy was the very first genre of movies. Demolition d'un mur (1895), where people knock down a wall and then it's played backwards so that it raises again. That must have been quite a big thrill seeing the wall rebuild itself at that time. And Leaving Jerusalem by Railway (1896) which features one of the first moving cameras as the camera shoots a station from the back of a leaving train.
Georges Melies
While the other movie pioneers were basically photographers and technical innovators, Melies was a magician and an illusionist, a visionare with a limitless imagination. He's the true father of the sci-fi and fantasy movies. Sadly there's only one of his movies in this collection, Voyage a travers l'impossible (1904). It's a few scenes from a sort of a continuation to his earlier and more famous Voyage dans la Lune (1902). It's a shame that only this small bit has survived from it, but it's worth every second of it. This is a stunning masterpiece of visual art and this one alone is worth the whole collection.
Birt Acres
Mainly a technical innovator and photographer. Only one of his movies is featured here, Rough Sea at Dover (1895). It's a shot of moving waves.
R. W. Paul
Also more of an technical innovator than a movie maker. Come Along, Do! (1898) is considered to be the very first movie made up of more than one scene joined together. It features two scenes of a couple eating picnic and then going to an art gallery. A Chess Dispute (1903) is significant as it has a clever composition where you can't see everything that's happening and thus it creates excitement and suspence. Extraordinary Cab Accident (1903) features one of the first stop motion effects. The Motorist (1906) is a showcase of the early trickshots in a true Melies spirit.
George Albert Smith Films
A scientist who was keen on developing new cinematography techniques. He's considered as the inventor of changing angles inside one scene and the point of view shot. The Miller and the Sweep (1898) is a great example of color usage when you have only two of them. It's a hilarious short about two men smacking eachother with bags, one filled with flour and the other with coal. The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899) is an early example of action continuity as a train enters a tunnel, a couple kiss and the train exits. Let Me Dream Again (1900) is an all too real funny little story about the difference between the dream girl and the wife. Grandma's Reading Glass (1900) features one of the very first point of view shots. Mary Jane's Mishap (1903) is a hilarious story of a woman who tries to light up the stove with paraffin with a bad result. George Albert Smith's works are one of the many highlights of this collection.
Sheffield Photographic Company
Sheffiel Photographic Company was an photography company which transitioned into the movies. Daring Daylight Burglary (1903) is the only film from them in this collection, but it doesn't matter as it's more significant than any other of their work. It's one of the first real action movies which consists of many scenes and fast paced (at that time) thrilling action.
Haggar and Sons
Walter Haggar toured the fairgrounds of Wales and western England with his tent cinematographic show and movie camera. Shooting films as he was on the road. Desperate Poaching Affray (1903) is sadly the only movie from him on this collection. It was at it's time one of the most violent action movies and it's quite a ride even today.
Bamforth and Company Ltd
A company focusing mostly on actualities and one shot knockabouts. Ladie's Skirts Nailed to a fence (1900) is probably the very first camp movie, it's really so bad it's hilarious. It features two women infront of a fence and two boys who nail(!) their skirts to the fence without the women noticing it. It's also one of the first movies where the point of view changes in the scene. It's not done like people would usually do it by moving the camera to the other side of the fence. They moved the actors around and kept the camera still. Too bad they forgot to switch the standing order of the actors so that it would have even remotely looked like it would have been from the other side of the fence. Simply brilliant. The rest of their work are remakes of the Smith's and Lumiere's works and a shot of a raging sea.
Williamson's Kinematograph Company Ltd
This quite brilliantly named company was run by James A. Smith, who became famous as a great action photographer and as a creator of continuity of action. Attack on a China Mission (1900) is only a fragment of the earliest Williamson's movie that has survied. You can clearly see the addiction to action in this reconstruction of the Boxer rebellion in China. The Big Swallow (1901) is a funny little clip where the actor eats the camera and the cameraman. Stop Thief! (1901) is considered to be the first ever chase movie and the continuity of action is portrayed brilliantly. Fire! (1901) is a ground breaking display of early continuity of action and editing. An Interesting Story (1905) has some clear comical characteristics which are later seen in most of the works from the golden era of comedies.
Hepworth Manufacturing Company
These are one of my favourites in this collection. T. C. Hepworth became famous as the first person to make a technical guide to the cinema. He also built one of the first studio for interior shots. Hepworth was a producer who let other people direct his movies. The most famous of them being Percy Stow and Lewin Fitzhamon. How It Feels to be Run Over (1900) features a car running over the camera, but the best part is the end statement in all it's hilarious weirdness. Explosion of a Motor Car (1900) is a hilariously bizarre movie about a car that explodes shooting it's passengers up in the sky and a policeman who is dodging the body parts as they fall down. Rescued by Rover (1905) is the early version of a hero dog in the spirit of Lassie and company. The Other Side of the Hedge (1905) features a young couple cunningly escaping the eyes of their chaperone. The Fatal Sneeze (1907) is a brilliant comedy about a small prank that gets epic proportions. These are definately among the best of the collection in all of their weirdness.
Cricks and Martin
G.H. Cricks who used to work with Hepworth set up a new company with H.M. Sharp who was later replaced by J.H. Martin, hence the name. There's only one movie of them in the collection called A Visit to Peek Frean and Co.'s Biscuit Works (1906). It's a documentary which shows the birth of a biscuit on a big factory, all the way from flour to the shop. The documentary is technically quite innovative and a great historical time piece.
Kineto Production Company
Another company focused on documentaries. From them there's A Day in the Life of a Coalminer (1910) in the collection. Like the title says it's a documentary of life in the coalmine. Skillfully made and at points quite tought provoking look at one of the hardest jobs in the world.
Pathe Freres
I was really looking forward for the Pathe films as I had read much about them but hadn't seen any of the early works before. Luckily there's quite wide selection of their work in this collection. Par le trou de la serrure (1901) is an early peeping tom film where a hotel clerk is looking thru the keyholes of the hotel rooms. The keyhole masking has been quite popular in movies since. Histoire d'un crime (1901) a very grim movie of a killer who gets caught, held in the prison and then decapitated in a really disturbingly real looking trick scene. Ali Baba et les quarante voleurs (1905) is a fantasy story in the tracks of Melies. This is the colored re-release of the original 1901 version and is quite impressive, even thou it doesn't compare with the Melies masterpieces. La Revolution en Russie (1905) is a violent little film that tells the story of the events in Odessa Russia, which later inspired the classic movie Battleship Potemkin. Aladin ou la lampe merveilleuse (1906) is another variation of the One Thousand and One Nights tales. The coloring in this one is surprisingly well done. Le Cheval emballe (1905) is a fast paced action movie of a runaway horse pulling a wagon. This is an early slapstick comedy that is quite entertaining. The Physician of the Castle (1905) is one of the first movies to use scene cutting between two scenes to build up the tension. Magic Bricks (1905) features quite a few nicely done early cinematic tricks.
Edison Manufacturing Company
The famous inventor who is also considered as one of the pioneers of film making had a production company which focused mostly on the technical development of filming techniques. But they made a few landmark movies too. Dewar's - It's Scotch (1898) is the very first advertising film. It features a group of people most likely drunk on whiskey dancing around. The Great Train Robbery (1903) is one of the gems in this collection. It's considered to be the first ever western and it's made with a stunning precision for a movie that old. It stars Broncho Billy who ended up doing 375 cowboy and adventure films after that. The end shot of the movie is legendary and it's been imitated in countless movies since then. The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) is a surprisingly realistic display of what being too drunk feels like. The spinning backgrounds really make you feel dizzy too.
All in all it's not a definite collection and some of the companies/artists should have deserved more than one or two films in it. But on many cases that's simply not possible as no prints have survived of some of the movies. Can't really rate it in any other way as a masterpiece, or maybe I should make a new rating level of essential viewing or something like that. Anyways this is a must have collection to any movie freak out there. And even if you're not interested in the early steps of cinema, there's still quite a few entertaining movies for you to kill some time with.
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