After our screening on Thursday, I was most interested, strangely enough, with the two shortest films by the Lumiere brothers.
Not the films themselves, necessarily, since both were under a minute long. But the idea that people were so fascinated with the idea of moving pictures that they would pay money to see things so everyday is most intriguing; the idea that people were paying to see things on screen that they could simply go and watch in person really defines the changing era.
Today, going to see a movie is not only an expensive feat, but it one of great criticism. If a movie runs over two-and-a-half hours, people complain. If a film runs under ninety minutes, people complain. The perfect two-hour movie is usually worth $10. Which, I guess, could translate equally to the early 1900's, where the price to get in wouldn't be over a nickel for a two-minute movie.
The Lumiere Brothers' movies are really fascinating from a historical point of view, being as they're the first of the business of movie-showing.
No comments:
Post a Comment