Demolizione di un muro

After the debut of the Cinématographe in 1895, its creators, Auguste and Louis Lumière, started to make more movies to supply the audiences' demand of more of those amazing moving images that were projected on the big screens during their shows. The brothers' invention had been a success, but they thought that it was only the initial impact of moving images displayed on a screen what made the Cinématographe so popular, so their movies focused on the idea of showing as much movement on screen as possible. Soon common scenes of everyday life such as trains arriving and people working would be captured by the brothers' camera and transformed into "actuality films", early documentaries depicting the life and times of the late 19th Century. However, while watching a film they had just finished, Louis Lumière had an idea that literally, would demolish the established ideas about cinema.

As usual, it all started at the Lumière factory, where one day in 1896 a group of workers was gathered to help in the demolition of the some walls. Louis Lumière thought it would be a good idea to use their new invention to capture the moment and so "Démolition d'Un Mur" was made. As the title implies, the movie captures the complete scene of the demolition of one of the walls of the factory, taken down by the workers in a very careful way. Like Lumière imagined, the scene has a lot of movement and one could even say that the images of the destruction of the wall have some unnatural, haunting beauty in them. However, what makes "Démolition d'Un Mur" even more fascinating is the brilliant idea that Lumière had for the screening of this film. Completely understanding the properties of his invention, Lumière decided to run the movie's reel backwards after the ending, so the audience could see the illusion of the wall being magically rebuilt in front of their very eyes.

While quite creative inventors in their field (and "Démolition d'Un Mur" is certainly a testament of that), the Lumière brothers weren't exactly interested in the commercial possibilities of their invention, and in fact considered "without future". So while Edison's company was showing vaudeville artists and dancers in Dickson's Kinetoscope, the brothers focused their Cinématographe shorts in the same style of actuality films they were so fond of. Even when oddities like this movie or "L' Arroseur Arrosé" (argualy cinema's first comedy) showed them using their talents in different kind of movies, their would soon lose interest and kept making documentaries while focusing their attention to new inventions. Anyways, while probably it was never intended in that way "Démolition d'Un Mur" showed that cinema was more than captured scenes of real life, and with the wall, the limits of a new art-form were demolished. 8/10

Although those mired in an antiquated theoretical framework may mistake this movie as a Marxian commentary on the oppression of the free worker and the destruction of useful property that rightfully belongs to the proletariat, in actuality, it is no such thing, but a paean to the organizing genius of of capitalism. It is an answer to Marx,a throwing down of the gauntlet.

Some roustabouts are standing with sledgehammers and no idea of what to do: typical of the working class. At the command of the gang boss -- representing, as he does, the capitalist, who knows what he wants and will achieve it while paying his worker what the invisible hand of the economy will permit -- the workers, previously unmotivated, lift their hammers and destroy the wall.

The wall, the Marxian theoretician will have us believe, represents some useful function of society. The twisting of things to the service of propaganda is apparent. The wall represents evil, a separation among society. Only through work, directed by the capitalist, will walls be destroyed and all profit.

But there is more. The auteur retreats one step and runs the movie in reverse! At the command of capital, labor can make or unmake a wall. Clearly labor has no voice in the process. All direction comes from the capitalist.

Even when you could not care less about what you see on screen, watching a single shot created by Louis and Auguste Lumière gives you a weird feeling. Knowing that the images are shot over a hundred years ago, knowing that their little films are so important for the cinema we have today, makes it very interesting.

In 'Démolition d'un Mur' we see a man ordering his workers to tear down a wall. It represents a lot of things, whether that is intended or not, and that makes this single shot even more interesting. For its historical value alone it is worth watching, but there is some real joy in watching this Lumière film.

In 1896 the projectionists could completely disregard the wishes of the cameraman and crank a film faster or slower than it was shot. This could produce an effect not intended by the filmmaker. In this case, however, the film is cranked through the projector at normal speed (16 frames-per-second) and we see four men demolishing a ten-foot masonry wall with sledge hammers, picks, and an interesting device that seems to be a hand-cranked ram used to facilitate the toppling of the wall. Having reached the end of the film; the projectionist starts cranking in reverse, at a slightly faster speed, and the wall arises from the rubble (like a phoenix from the ashes) to resume its former place.

One of the classics of the earliest years of cinema, this footage of the "Demolition of a Wall" shows the resourcefulness of the Lumière brothers in several ways. It's also still interesting to watch, especially with the popular trick shot added to it.

The Lumières resourcefully took advantage of some work going on in their own factory, by filming this actual removal of an unused wall on the grounds. As with so many of his features, Louis Lumière shows his knack for sensing material that will be interesting to watch, and that will also demonstrate the capabilities of his invention. Seeing a structure being methodically dismantled can often have an unaccountable but definite hold on one's attention, and indeed it is surprisingly interesting to see how the job is done here.

To add to that, Lumière had the imaginative idea for the projection trick that is usually shown after the straightforward footage. It works quite well, and it is one of many examples of the kind of creativity and resourcefulness that Lumière and other cinema pioneers possessed.