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L'émeute / Sur la barricade / L'enfant de la barricade(1907) - a Silent Film Review

L'enfant de la barricade (1907)

"L'enfant de la barricade" is a short film from 1907 by Alice Guy-Blaché. Until recently, this film pioneer had been forgotten. Many of her early experiments and shorts were often attributed by film historians to her male colleagues. But it was Alice Guy Blaché who made the first film with a story in it in 1896. This is also one of them. As the daughter of a publisher and bookkeeper, it is not so strange that it was she who first came up with the idea to film a story.

"L'enfant de la barricade" tells the simple story of a boy who is going to get milk for his mother. In the time of the French Revolution, that turned out to be a bit more difficult job than you might think.

L'enfant de la barricade (1907)

This was the last film Alice Guy Blaché would make before she left for America with her husband. That could explain the choice of theme. "L'enfant de la barricade" has a rather austere design. Not much money has been spent on sets and decors. The streets that were filmed in could come from any period in history. One reason for this may be that she had made a 33-minute big budget film about the life of Jesus Christ the year before. In 1906, 33 minutes was very long for a movie. Another reason may of course be that leaving for another continent brings certain risks. Reserve capital is of course nice to have in that case.

L'enfant de la barricade (1907)

We see in this film that the characters walk in and out of the screen. That was not common in 1907. The actors remained in the picture, as if on stage. In 1906, Guy Blaché was the first to get actors in and out of the picture.

What I also like about this film is that it has a certain optimism. For example, the officer of the execution platoon trusts someone to come back to have himself executed.

I also like it from a technical perspective. All scenes have a beautiful composition. I think nothing is left to chance. The length of the shots are also just right. Guy-Blaché was well aware that the editing had an impact on the speed and tension of the story. And that in 1907.

L'enfant de la barricade (1907)

The acting is of course a bit melodramatic, but I think it's nice to see Guy Blaché show that the simplest daily actions placed in an unusual situation can become very interesting. And I think that this kind of storytelling technique still works very well now. Many war movies these days are about ordinary people who, in an unusual situation, do things they would otherwise never do.

The scene where the insurgents are being executed reminds me a bit of Goya's painting "The Execution of the Insurgents on May 3, 1808". It has the same drama.

Of all the early films that I have seen, I think that 'L'enfant de la barricade' really stands out.

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