What could I possibly say about 'Roundhay Garden Scene' that hasn't been said before? It is, quite possibly, the single most important film in the history of film, since it is the one that started everything. For that fact alone, I've given it a ten. Though the director only ever produced two extremely brief short films (the other being the incredibly suspenseful high-octane chase film, 'Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge'), he has undeniably left an indelible mark on the cinema industry.
However, though it is usually referred to simply as "the first film," we should not overlook the other masterful qualities of Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince's short (but brilliant) film. Not only did he have a name that took three breaths to pronounce, but Monsieur Le Prince also had talent in great abundance. Beneath a seemingly-straightforward tale of four people's strolls around a garden lies an exceptionally powerful morality fable, a journey into the deeply-rooted depths of a Man's heart, exposing things about ourselves that we wouldn't otherwise dare to discover. Le Prince was indisputably an artist with the camera, revealing so much about each character in only a few brief frames.
The acting is, of course, first-rate. A less-accomplished cast would have crumbled beneath their task, and the walking might have appeared forced and unbelievable; but these people stroll about the garden with such confidence and awareness that we are unsurprised to discover that this is an activity that they have practised often. Indeed, at the first Academy Awards in 1929, the Academy members voted unanimously to award a posthumous Best Actress Oscar to actress Sarah Whitley (the director's mother-in-law), who had died just ten days after filming for 'Roundhay Garden Scene' was completed. However, as fate would have it, advocates of Janet Gaynor's performance in 'Seventh Heaven' (1927) ultimately offered a better monetary incentive for the voters, and popular opinion was swayed.
The cinematography, though perhaps primitive by today's standards, acted as a benchmark for every film that would follow it. The unusually-long static shot (for that time) would eventually become popular in many later films, most notably in Andy Warhol's 'Empire' - a continuous 485 minute static shot of the Empire State Building. Unreliable sources suggest that Le Prince originally intended to produce a 170-minute epic feature film detailing the fall of the Roman Empire, though he was somewhat limited by budget constraints (he was working with 12 francs), and they were unable to find any experienced film stunt-men who could adequately handle the high-speed chariots.
On April 1 2007, director David Lynch ('Eraserhead', 'Mulholland Dr.') revealed plans to remake Le Prince's classic film, declaring that he will remain relatively loyal to the original source material. According to Lynch, as quoted in 'Variety' magazine, the only major alterations will include a change of setting to an industrial wasteland, an extended dream sequence involving a purple unicorn and Bill Murray as a maniacal planetary god, the removal of the original film's murder mystery subplot and the addition of a giant rabbit character.
You can forgive me for having a little fun with this review, since there is certainly very little that can be said about this film that hasn't been said countless times before. Let it simply be known that 'Roundhay Garden Scene' revolutionised entertainment forever, and, for that, this film should be revered by all movie-lovers. By the way, did anybody else pick out which character was the murderer?!
However, though it is usually referred to simply as "the first film," we should not overlook the other masterful qualities of Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince's short (but brilliant) film. Not only did he have a name that took three breaths to pronounce, but Monsieur Le Prince also had talent in great abundance. Beneath a seemingly-straightforward tale of four people's strolls around a garden lies an exceptionally powerful morality fable, a journey into the deeply-rooted depths of a Man's heart, exposing things about ourselves that we wouldn't otherwise dare to discover. Le Prince was indisputably an artist with the camera, revealing so much about each character in only a few brief frames.
The acting is, of course, first-rate. A less-accomplished cast would have crumbled beneath their task, and the walking might have appeared forced and unbelievable; but these people stroll about the garden with such confidence and awareness that we are unsurprised to discover that this is an activity that they have practised often. Indeed, at the first Academy Awards in 1929, the Academy members voted unanimously to award a posthumous Best Actress Oscar to actress Sarah Whitley (the director's mother-in-law), who had died just ten days after filming for 'Roundhay Garden Scene' was completed. However, as fate would have it, advocates of Janet Gaynor's performance in 'Seventh Heaven' (1927) ultimately offered a better monetary incentive for the voters, and popular opinion was swayed.
The cinematography, though perhaps primitive by today's standards, acted as a benchmark for every film that would follow it. The unusually-long static shot (for that time) would eventually become popular in many later films, most notably in Andy Warhol's 'Empire' - a continuous 485 minute static shot of the Empire State Building. Unreliable sources suggest that Le Prince originally intended to produce a 170-minute epic feature film detailing the fall of the Roman Empire, though he was somewhat limited by budget constraints (he was working with 12 francs), and they were unable to find any experienced film stunt-men who could adequately handle the high-speed chariots.
On April 1 2007, director David Lynch ('Eraserhead', 'Mulholland Dr.') revealed plans to remake Le Prince's classic film, declaring that he will remain relatively loyal to the original source material. According to Lynch, as quoted in 'Variety' magazine, the only major alterations will include a change of setting to an industrial wasteland, an extended dream sequence involving a purple unicorn and Bill Murray as a maniacal planetary god, the removal of the original film's murder mystery subplot and the addition of a giant rabbit character.
You can forgive me for having a little fun with this review, since there is certainly very little that can be said about this film that hasn't been said countless times before. Let it simply be known that 'Roundhay Garden Scene' revolutionised entertainment forever, and, for that, this film should be revered by all movie-lovers. By the way, did anybody else pick out which character was the murderer?!