Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Wednesday

04Nov2009

Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | 1888

The debate over who invented the medium of motion pictures has brought Le Prince a rather delayed recognition. Muybridge and over mavericks working in the second half of the 19th century have provided a good basis for what is to come with Roundhay Garden Scene – the recording of moving image from one point of view. Yet, his sudden disappearance, the financial problems over his invention, and the failed patent battle against Edison, have all contributed to Le Prince’s name to virtually disappear from any subject related manual.

Despite its historical significance, Le Prince’s film is also a beautiful documentary evidence on contemporary middle-class British family. The work does not only lay the path on a technological level, but also opens the discourse on genre or performance, as well as on the role of film in society. The elderly couple looks nostalgically towards the youth, while slowly fading out of the shot. The reserved mannerism vibrates with energy in the rawness of the palette. It is appealing to explore the extent to which the four characters were affected by the presence of the camera. This type of acting does not integrate within the theatrical tradition of the time, moreover, with Le Prince, the shooting of film has turned its subjects into self-conscious actors. A new tradition was to emerge, taking the actor away from the text and turning him towards oneself. Roundhay Garden Scene should not get the credit for this, yet it deserves commending for developing the discourse from the very start.

However, it is the film’s ability in trying to achieve a frank representation of reality that generates one of the most contested topics in cinematic discourse. Le Prince’s pioneering effort is to be applauded, more so due to his ambition of achieving not only a representation of reality, but a reproduction of reality. For him, film was not an extension to photography, but a new invention which envisages an authentic 3D experience. Unfortunately, his own desires made him as ignorant of his own technological success as 20th century film history was of his entire presence in the world of moving pictures.

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ESSENTIAL FILMS: Chapter II – Defining the film image