Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

Starring: August Lumiere, Rose Lumiere
Directed by: Auguste Lumiere, Louis Lumiere
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Documentary
Length: 45 seconds
1896

Times Seen:
Tim: 8

Summary: A train pulls into the station and passengers depart/embark.

Review:

Tim: The Lumiere Brothers' Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat features one of the great myths of world cinema. It's said that when audiences saw the train on screen, barreling toward them, they screamed and fled the theater in panic. That likely didn't happen, but audiences were undoubtedly wowed by the vivid depiction of movement on screen (similar to how audiences were recently wowed by a film like Avatar).

The movement of the train is cool, especially because of the placement of the camera. The train seems to be heading straight for us as the audience, before rushing past. It's an impressive shot from the extremely early days of cinema. We see people waiting to the right, ready to board the train. It's fun seeing their clothing, and the fact that we're able to see people boarding a train in 1896. That's pretty amazing.

One other thing that I found interesting is that without moving the camera, this film managed a long shot, a medium shot, and a close up in its 45 second run time. This was due to the movement of the subjects being filmed, not due to any movement of the camera (since it was stationary).

This might not be the most engaging film from the 1890s, but it was a fascinating example of the power of cinema and hinted at what cool visual sights were to come. For die hard movie fans, you absolutely have to see this film.

*Update- I rewatched this short film a few times, a good decade or so after I originally viewed it. I was telling my 7 year-old son about the rumor surrounding this film- that early audiences panicked when they saw the train coming towards the screen. That apocryphal story is entertaining and he wanted to view the short film. It gave me a chance to revisit the film and my review of it. I feel like I really did capture my sentiments well and I don't have much to change/add from my original review.

One thing I found fascinating was how far cinema had advanced in a relatively short amount of time. When you compare motion pictures' roots in 1888's Roundhay Garden Scene to this one, it's astounding. The original motion picture was 2 seconds long, of dubious quality. Within 8 years of the first motion picture, Arrival of a Train at La Ciota greatly expanded the length of the film and the clarity was much better. It's interesting to watch this movie, but putting it within the context of the early days of cinema, it becomes truly remarkable. Like I did the last time I watched this short, I just marveled at our ability to see people, their clothes, the train- all these vivid images from the distant past. It's always a reminder of the power of movies. And, in the early days of cinema, this was definitely one worth seeing.

*Update- a year or two after watching this film for the first time, I showed it to my eight year-old son and five year-old daughter. It was so fun to see them scanning the film. We talked about how amazing this was, to be able to see movement and people from 1896. The clothes they wore, the young children moving with their parents, it truly helps you realize the magic and power of motion pictures- to capture the images of these people, decades and decades after their lives concluded. This short is an incredible view into the past and we all enjoyed watching it a lot.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Demolition of a Wall, Roundhay Garden Scene