The Photographical Congress Arrives in Lyon

Starring: P.J.C. Janssen
Directed by: Louis Lumiere
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Documentary
Length: 35 seconds
1895

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: Photographers leave a riverboat and walk toward the camera.

Review:

Tim: This short Louis Lumiere film is a bit anticlimactic, but still fun to watch for 35 seconds. It depicts the members of the Photographical Congress departing a riverboat, walking across a small bridge onto shore. The men and women occasionally glance at the camera, one man blows a puff of smoke, several people take off their hat in greeting. There is an impressive looking bridge in the background, and you can see people walking across it.

It's impossible to know any of this for sure, but this film is rumored to be the first film ever filmed and then shown to its subjects in the same day. I bet that's a pretty unsubstantiated claim, but it gives this film slightly more importance.

It's pretty interesting to watch all the people depart this riverboat so quickly, but there's not a whole lot to this film. Watching this movie, you could just tell that film was still this fresh novelty. I'm sure when the photographical congress watched this film later in the day, they were astounded- "Hey, that's me!" What is funny is that even today, we still get a little rush when we see ourselves on film. That is humorous to me. While a bit of luster of the magic of film has worn off, everybody still likes to feel famous, and I'm sure these individuals did. What's interesting is that this film preserved their likeness for well over 100 years already, and possibly for hundreds more years. That's not too shabby a result from walking off a boat!

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



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Employees Leaving the Lumiere Factory