Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 1

Director: Alice Guy
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
A magnificent collection for anyone interested in the earliest days of film history, this compilation of films spans the years from 1886 to 1913, from the first experiments in "serial photography" to the emergence of narrative shorts and the dawn of the feature-length film. It's a veritable archive of nearly every important film from the birth of the medium, including Edison Kinestoscope films (1894-96), films by the brothers Lumière (1895-97), the magical movies of French special effects pioneer Georges Méliès, documentary "actualities" from 1897 to 1910, and selected short films from 1903 to 1913. The two-hour collection offers a fascinating study of how motion pictures quickly developed a variety of applications and a means of artistic and practical expression, with their own emerging language of camera style, editing, and cinematography. Watching these films is like stepping into a time machine to witness the infancy of motion pictures, which would rapidly evolve to become the most powerful medium of the 20th century prior to the development of television. --Jeff Shannon
Description
In celebration of the centennial of the birth of cinema, "Landmarks of Early Film" offers a collection of more than 40 films made in the early days of the medium. All films are mastered at correct speeds from excellent source material with new musical scores. Features a hand-colored copy of "The Great Train Robbery" from 1903, and "A Trip To The Moon" by George Melies with its original 1902 narration restored.

Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 1
Average customer rating:

A glimpse into a vanished world

Quite simply, not to be missed, for academic film buffs

A nice sampler of very early films

Rare collection of early cinema at a very good price

What a joy! --- and all on a single DVD!

Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 1
Director: Alice Guy
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 630507559X
Release Date: 1997-11-26

Amazon.com

A magnificent collection for anyone interested in the earliest days of film history, this compilation of films spans the years from 1886 to 1913, from the first experiments in "serial photography" to the emergence of narrative shorts and the dawn of the feature-length film. It's a veritable archive of nearly every important film from the birth of the medium, including Edison Kinestoscope films (1894-96), films by the brothers Lumière (1895-97), the magical movies of French special effects pioneer Georges Méliès, documentary "actualities" from 1897 to 1910, and selected short films from 1903 to 1913. The two-hour collection offers a fascinating study of how motion pictures quickly developed a variety of applications and a means of artistic and practical expression, with their own emerging language of camera style, editing, and cinematography. Watching these films is like stepping into a time machine to witness the infancy of motion pictures, which would rapidly evolve to become the most powerful medium of the 20th century prior to the development of television. --Jeff Shannon

Description

In celebration of the centennial of the birth of cinema, "Landmarks of Early Film" offers a collection of more than 40 films made in the early days of the medium. All films are mastered at correct speeds from excellent source material with new musical scores. Features a hand-colored copy of "The Great Train Robbery" from 1903, and "A Trip To The Moon" by George Melies with its original 1902 narration restored.

Customer Reviews:

A glimpse into a vanished world.......2007-06-29

This DVD is very similar to a VHS tape issued by another distributor, Kino Video, "The Movies Begin, Vol. I." That the contents are similar is no surprise, as both are derived from the Film Preservation Associates' archives. The DVD is longer than the VHS tape (117 min. vs. 75 min.), and contains more material. Missing from the DVD is a wonderful sequence found in the VHS: "Moscow in the Snow" (1908). This Pâté documentary provides panoramic shots of pre-revolutionary Moscow, as well as vignettes of the inhabitants. It is such a delight that its exclusion represents a serious loss.

The earliest example included are "pre-movies-movies" consisting of a sequence of E. Muybridge's stills (1885) assembled into films. The effect is very interesting, even today. Muybridge used trip-wires and multiple cameras to obtain a sequence of stills. When Muybridge first published his stop-action motion studies they were positively revolutionary. One of Muybridge's accomplishments was to settle -- once and for all -- the question whether a running horse ever has all four feet off the ground (It does! Unfortunately this segment is not included.) Incidentally, Muybridge's sequences also provide a glimpse of the feminine figure of 100 years ago, and how it might differ from today's ideal.

This is followed by selected Edison Kinetoscopes (ca. 1894); of these I found the "serpentine dances" most interesting. (A dance form no longer practiced, except perhaps in Chinese opera.) Later on there appear additional vignettes. Some, such as the one of President McKinley, the San Francisco Earthquake, and gold prospectors crossing over the Chilkoot Pass, have obvious historical interest.

Five sequences are of special interest:

1) S. Porter's "The Great Train Robbery," is a seminal work which set the framework for countless westerns to follow.

2) "A Girl and her Trust" is similar to the above, but better. It even has "feminist" elements.

3) "Nero, or the Fall of Rome" is entertaining, if historically inaccurate: Nero did fall, but Rome did not fall until several centuries later. Nero's troubled relationship with Poppaea Sabina is the subject. Perhaps what it intends is that Nero's evil was amplified by Poppaea, and this set the tone for future emperors, eventually resulting in Rome's downfall. (The historian Josephus however tells of a very different Poppaea: A deeply religious woman who urged Nero to show compassion.)

For me, without question the two best works on this tape are: 1) George Melies's "Le Voyage dans la Lune" (Voyage to the Moon) of 1902; and 2) S. Chomon's "Le Scarabee d'Or" (Golden Beetle) of 1907.

The "Golden Beetle" is a fantasy piece, with similarities to Rimsky-Korsakov's fairytale operas - except of course there is no singing, and it is only 2 minutes long. Synopsis: A sorcerer captures a golden beetle and by means of a magic fire cauldron turns it into a woman. Or perhaps she is a fairy, as she has three pairs of wings. From his unbounded glee, we suspect the sorcerer's intentions are not quite honorable. The fairy however, turns out to be more than the sorcerer had bargained for. My means of two assistants (whose miraculous appearance is unexplained) she throws the sorcerer into the fire cauldron, from whence he disappears. The moral? Perhaps it is similar to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (remember Mickey and the brooms): don't mess with powerful things you don't fully understand. Or maybe that old men should not have an interest in young women. But ultimately it does not matter, because the plot seems merely a backdrop for the technical wizardry. Segundo de Chomon worked closely with Melies, and was heavily influenced by him. Chomon's specialty was early experimentation with color film, of which "Golden Beetle" is a good example. The coloring process involved hand coloring of individual frames, and was obviously very labor intensive. Chomon also experimented with more automated color techniques.

For me the piece de resistance of this collection is George Melies's "Le Voyage dans la Lune" (Voyage to the Moon) of 1902. This work has great historical interest as the first science fiction film produced. But the genre is peculiar: it is slapstick science fiction - a form occasionally still used, such as in "Mars Attacks."

After slapstick, the film is best characterized as an amalgam of J. Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" and H. G. Wells's "First Men in the Moon." The first part of the movie roughly follows Verne's novel: a group of scientists use a giant canon to travel to the moon. The second part roughly follows Wells: the moon travelers discover a civilization of intelligent beings living under the surface of the moon. The travelers manage to get home safely among great rejoicing.

Melies had an abiding interest in science, especially astronomy, and science fiction. It is of interest to note that his scientists tend to be absent-minded, eccentric, and even buffoonish. They are unable to function without the help of down-to-earth assistants (e.g., telescope carriers). All this is very reminiscent of Swift's "flappers" from the "La Puta" section of "Gulliver's Travels."

Why slapstick? Probably Melies thought the audience of 1902 was not ready for a more scientific approach. This had to await "Die Frau im Mond" of 1929, and "Destination Moon" of 1950.

The science in this movie is best described as "absolutely pathetic" (possibly intentionally so). The movie is good training for school children assigned to "find all the mistakes." Two egregious examples: 1) the travelers have absolutely no problem breathing on the lunar surface; and 2) to return to Earth they simply fall off the edge of the Moon (ouch!).

Many viewers are familiar with at least one scene from this movie: the space capsule hitting the man-in-the-moon smack in the eye. This sequence has been excerpted many times - though most people may not know its origin. A second, almost as famous, sequence is the chorus line of beauties giving the travelers a spectacular send-off. (Should NASA consider such a format for its launches?)

Quite simply, not to be missed, for academic film buffs.......2007-05-16

If you love silent film, or if you love film in a scholarly way, or if you are interested in seeing some of the few masterpieces that have survived the silent era, or if you are sentimental about the rudiments of processes that have been later better-defined, this DVD is for you. Enjoy.

A nice sampler of very early films.......2007-01-22

Although some of the films on here do overlap with some of the other early film DVDs out there (such as the Edison set and 'The Lumière Brothers' First Films'), there are also some films on here that can't be found anywhere else, and it provides a very nice introduction to the subject for someone who's just getting into these very early short films from the dawn of motion pictures. Categories include the Edison films, films by the Lumière Brothers, a Keystone short (featuring the charming Mabel Normand in the leading role), a Biograph short, a Max Linder short, short French films, short documentary-style films, and the two very early film classics 'Le Voyage Dans la Lune' and 'The Great Train Robbery' (the latter with beautifully select hand-coloring). Basically, it gives the viewer a good sampling of the various different types of films being made from the 1890s to the early Teens. These very early films are like literally looking back in time, at this bygone world, a world where the moving image was so new and revolutionary that people didn't care the movies only lasted under a minute and showed things like employees leaving a factory or two babies quarreling, since they'd never seen these miraculously moving pictures before. It also opens with the short 1994 film 'Homage to Eadweard Muybridge,' who invented the zoopraxiscope, which projected a series of pictures in a way that suggested movement. He was one of the pioneers in the invention of the motion picture, even though here we're seeing series photography (from 1877-85), not actual motion pictures. (Those who are offended by such things should be aware that the woman in these series photography "films" is naked, at times partially and at other times fully, though there's absolutely nothing sexual or pornographic here; it's just a series of images of a woman who so happens to not have any clothes on.)

My one complaint about this disc (other than the mislabelling of 'I.B. Dam and the Whole Dam Family' as 'The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog') is that most of the films don't have any dates given. Even if one is already familiar with the films from this era instead of a new fan, it's still nice to have them placed into historic context and to see the years they were all made. Some bonus features also would have been nice, to have provided, say, some background to the films, the people who made them, the restoration process, and what film-making was like in these very early days. It's always nice to have supplemental information to enjoy and appreciate these antique films even more.

Rare collection of early cinema at a very good price.......2007-01-05

This set consists of 40 short films and series photographs shot between 1894 and 1913. Arranged in roughly chronological order, with the earlier pieces subdivided into categories ("Edison Kinetoscopes," "Lumiere Films," "Actualities"), they present an overview of the early silent era of motion pictures. Most people have seen stills or excerpts from such films as "A Voyage to the Moon" and "The Great Train Robbery," but seldom have people had the chance to experience such pioneering works in their entirety. This is not a disc for everybody. Only those who have a keen interest in the development of motion pictures at their earliest phase will appreciate it. If you are one of those, like me, consider this a must buy.

In addition to scripted comedies and dramas, there are a number of films that simply record everyday life at the turn of the last century. There is "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat", which is said to have panicked early audiences who failed to grasp that the approaching train wasn't going to come through the screen and run them over. Other films, such as "Snowball Fight" and "Seminary Girls" are staged with the intent of creating the appearance of spontaneity. Either way, these rarely seen films are important documents of a recent past that is so different from our present that it's hard to believe that they were shot only a century ago.

The Dolby Digital mono sound is clear and well presented. Many of the films are tastefully scored with newly recorded piano music, while others are paired with period recordings. "Skyscrapers of New York City From North River," for example, is particularly haunting when viewed with its mysterious, unidentified musical accompaniment drifting from the speakers. A good number of films in this collection date back to the 1890's, and a lot of them are a lot better looking than I would have thought. Some films, like Train Robbery, even have their original hand painted color tints intact. One of the neat things about the DVD is the freeze frame, because I was able to spot a single frame in one of the Kinetiscope films that was slipped in to read "Copyright 1907 T.A. Edison." This is not a disc that's about features, other than being able to zip from film to film versus fast forwarding on VHS, nor is it one to show off your home theatre. This is a film for those with a serious interest film history only.

What a joy! --- and all on a single DVD!.......2005-10-25

Many of these "primitives" appear in DVD collections, but that's the problem -- you have to search for these classics through a number of sets. Well, here they are on a single DVD! This disc begins with an homage to Eadweard Muybridge, the pioneer of series photography. Then there are early Edison kinetoscope films (1894-96), including "The Kiss" and "Serpentine Dances," which prompted some of the earliest criticisms of film. The Lumiere brothers' films (1895-97) here include "Exiting the Factory," "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat," and an early comedic scene called "The Sprinkler Sprinkled." Also on this single disc is Georges Melies's "A Trip to the Moon" (1902), which with its early special effects, celebrates the magic possibilities of the new medium. And what has been called the "first Western" is also here -- Edwin S. Porter's "The Great Train Robbery" (1903) -- the first movie to use editing, intercutting of scenes, and a mobile camera to tell a relatively sophisticated story. There are even historic actualities, including a look at San Francisco in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake and fire that devastated that city. Totalling nearly two hours, there is probably no better single DVD of early landmark films. This is a "must have" for any serious film collector.

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