Lumiere and Company

[dufresne]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113718/combined

40 international directors were asked to make a short film using the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumiere Brothers, working under conditions similar to those of 1895. There were three rules: (1) The film could be no longer than 52 seconds; (2) no synchronized sound was permitted; (3) no more than three takes.

a great idea, but man, this movie could have been so much better...

what a bunch of crap.

i think it would have been better idea if the directors chosen were everday journeymen rather than film auteurs.

[SHAFTR]

wow, that is super cool.

[Ghostboy]

Yeah, it was really lame for the most part. Lynch's piece was absolutely amazing, which is why they put it at the very end. You'd be better off buying his short films compilation, since it's on there as well.

[dufresne]

wow, that is super cool.

but you see, it's really not.  rent it though.

[snaporaz]

i wanna see it. damnit.

[Sal]

I only saw Lynch's, which was really cool indeed, but not the others.

[Ravi]

What exactly is wrong with the films?

[Cecil]

i only saw the one by lynch as well. its fantastic

[dufresne]

What exactly is wrong with the films?

i felt like i was being babied during the viewing.  the way the film was edited was distracting.  they would show video footage of the actual taping taking place, intercut it with questions (the same for each director...yawn) like 'is film mortal?' and 'why do you film'?  this could have been very interesting except for all the blank stares in reply...and only then they'd show the actual finished film.  

granted, they only have a minute to convey a message but i think it shows their failures as directors if they have to set up the story before we see it.  

it's like the directors had to give us a little prologue to set up their 'deep' film.  

watch it and see if you agree.  

My favorites were Lynch's mini-epic and Spike Lee's short film of his son in a stroller.  This was the most successful as far the Lumiere influence is concerned.  Absolutely perfect.

[Ghostboy]

I loved that. Everyone was off trying to come up with something artistic or clever, and Spike was just like, "Fuck it, I've got the world's first movie camera, I'm gonna film my baby with it."

Many of the others were completely unmemorable, and it's true that the video footage in between was ridiculous. It detracted from the actual films, and it was just plain boring.

[Sal]

I don't think Lee shot his child to say "fuck it" as much as it was a response to the Lumiere films, which were shot with Lumiere families or, like the first film, people coming out of the Lumiere factory.  Lee took this same principle and applied it to himself.  

I also saw the video footage in between, and yes, it was pretty laughable.

[ProgWRX]

yeah i agree...theres even an early lumiere film that it was just them feeding a baby....so its fitting.

[rustinglass]

I like the lynch

I would like to see the zhang yimou and wim wenders, can anyone tell me what they're like?

[Ghostboy]

I don't remember what Yimou's was, but Wim Wenders made a little piece involving his angels from 'Wings Of Desire.'