In one of those wonderful coincidences of history, lumière, the French word for “light,” was also the last name of brothers Auguste and Louis, whose brilliant invention, the cinematograph, helped to inaugurate the most beloved art form of the last 130 years. Institute Lumière director Thierry Frémaux uses Lumière, Le Cinema! to guide the viewer through over a hundred shorts—some famous, some forgotten, some never before seen—directed by Lumière and company. In the process, Frémaux illuminates how the brothers employed the camera as a creative instrument as they (and their operators) mastered framing, staging, and subject selection for quotidian and exotic microdocumentaries as well as the first ever fictional motion pictures. The result is not only a glorious re(telling) of the genesis of cinema but a profound meditation on the beautiful world captured—and the mysterious world imagined—by the Lumières.
Lumière, Le Cinéma! explores themes of invention, cinematographer, filmmaking. A blend of Documentary and History, it is available to stream for free in HD on Ernax — no account required.
Genre: Documentary, History
Runtime: 104 min
Director: Thierry Frémaux
Writers: Thierry Frémaux
Cast: Thierry Frémaux, Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Coppola, Bertrand Tavernier, Valerio Mastandrea, Alain Chabat, Laurent Gerra
Rating: 7.1/10 (16 votes)
Country: France
Language: French
Themes: invention, cinematographer, filmmaking, archive footage, documentary filmmaking, old footage, cinema history, film archives
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