Caicedo

Starring: Juan A. Caicedo
Directed by: William K.L. Dickson (uncredited)
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short
Length: 25 seconds
1894

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Juan A. Caicedo performs his famous slack wire performance.

Review:

Tim: Caicedo is an interesting (but extremely short) look at Juan A. Caicedo as he performs a beautiful, gravity-defying stunt on a slack wire. The performance is deceptive, because, at first glance, it doesn't seem all that hard. However, when you think about the balance required to pull it off (and what would happen if you missed), the performance becomes more impressive.

It's interesting, too, because in the black and white short film, the sky looks completely white. The wire Caicedo balances on is white as well, so when it bounces up, it almost completely disappears into the white sky background, giving you a fleeting impression that Caicedo is flying in the air. It contributed to the overall feel of the movie.

I've read that this was the first kinetographic film shot outdoors, so that is impressive from a cinematic history and evolution standpoint. It is a very short film, but it adequately captures a talented man at his best.

I wouldn't recommend tracking this down unless you're a true film fanatic and are interested in the earliest days of American cinema. This is a nice example of that early work from the Edison Manufacturing Company. It's cool, but it's far too short to be very memorable. Still, I feel glad to have seen this.

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



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: N/A