Lumière et compagnie (1995)
Directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos, Vicente Aranda

Film Review

To celebrate the centenary of the Lumière brothers' invention of the cinematograph (the forerunner of the modern film camera), 39 distinguished film directors from across the world took up the challenge to make a short film using the Lumières' original equipment.  The films had to be 52 minutes in length, not use synchronised sound and take no more than three takes.  The difference in cinematic styles and cultural backgrounds is reflected in the resulting series of films, which range form the banal to the surreal and frankly bizarre.

Disappointingly, only a few of the directors managed to come up with an imaginative short film.  Most were presumably content to have mastered the immense difficulties of making a film with such primitive equipment.  Of particular note are the films recorded by Michael Haneke (a summary of the news on the day of the Lumieres' anniversary), Régis Wargnier  (a touching portrait of French president François Mitterand, a few months before his death) and David Lynch (a block-buster sci-fi/horror mini-epic).  The films also includes a few of Louis Lumiere's original films, magnificently restored.

The film also goes in front of the camera and allows the film-makers to express some of their thoughts about their art.  Here again only a few of the great men and women have anything original to say.  Whilst it would be unfair to say that this film was a wasted opportunity, it is certainly does contain a lot of mediocre material and is hardly a fitting tribute to the birth of cinema.

Film Synopsis

To mark the centenary of the invention of the cinematograph by the Lumière brothers in 1885, forty filmmakers from around the world each contribute a 52 second film, shot with the Lumières' original camera...