Pauvre Pierrot

It's cheating a little to list this as a film as strictly speaking it's not one, though its maker Émile Reynaud pushed pre-cinema technology as far as it could go to achieve an experience practically indistinguishable from that of watching a theatrical presentation of an animated cartoon film. His Théâtre Optique featured his Praxinoscope, a radical development of old-established animation toys like the Zoetrope. This used rotating faceted mirrors and lenses that could project a succession of hand-drawn images from a paper strip with sprocket holes, allowing much longer sequences of continuous action than the short loops hitherto used in such devices. These images were then superimposed on a static background projected from a conventional magic lantern slide, prefiguring later cel animation techniques in which the image is broken down into a succession of layers with the minimum of movement in each one. The exhibition was completed with live narration and music.

Some of Reynaud's original elements survive (others he later threw in the Seine) and their affinity with film is demonstrated by the ease with which they can be reconstructed on modern film or video. Pauvre Pierrot was the first such production and is among the most charming, a simple tale featuring the traditional characters Pierrot, Arlequin and Colombine acting out their ancient love triangle. Some reconstructions replicate the translucent, slightly ghostly quality the characters would have had at the time. Sadly Reynaud's work was overtaken by the arrival of the cinema proper and he died a poor and unhappy man.

Pauvre Pierrot (1892)

This French film is considered one of the first animated movies ever made. From original reports it seems that the movie lasted longer than what's available in its current version but even at just four-minutes you can't help but be somewhat amazed at what great quality the film actually is. The plot is quite simple and deals with two men and a woman that they both want.

I will just leave the story at that but the main reason to watch this is for the beautiful animation. Now, it should go without saying but this movie was made in 1892 so one really shouldn't be expecting the work of Walt Disney. The film has a very fresh look to it and I must say that the colorful background is certainly the highlight.

Pauvre Pierrot, directed by Charles-Émile Reynaud, is one of the first animated films ever made. It is made up of 500 individually painted images and originally lasted about 15 minutes. The version available to today is a 4 minute version, restored from pieces of the original.

It's a simple story of a woman with two men wooing her, one she cares for, and the other which is somewhat a nuisance to her, even if he is sincere. To achieve his effects, Reynaud invented his Théâtre-Optique system which was basically a zoetrope with a projector. The images showed successive images of moving figures in front of blackbackgrounds. These images could be adjusted in real-time to project tthe animated characters against an immobile background image which was being projected by a second projector from a painted glass plate.

At times the show was quite elaborate. Original music and songs were written for the show, played by an piano accompanyist and sung by an actor. Reynaud performed 12,800 shows from 1892 to 1900. Commercially successful for a time, the popularity of these shows were eventually overtaken by the projected camera live action films of the Lumières and others.

This might be fairly basic animation compared to today's 3D computer-generated spectaculars, but it is in its own way just as remarkable. Emile Reynaud developed many marvels like this, and operated some rather tricky mechanism to screen it. Sadly, Reynaud was not only something of a perfectionist who personally hand-painted every image of every film, he also only trusted himself to operate the screenings. and therefore stretched himself a little too far. He was hugely successful before the advent of movies, but was incapable of progressing and stands as a singular warning of the fate that befalls any business that fails to adapt to a changing market. The film has historical importance, and as a bitter and impoverished Reynaud destroyed most of his films years after the film industry had made his shows obsolete, it's something of a minor miracle that it still exists today.

History lesson time! Back when films were viewed as magical gimmicks rather than an art form, inventor Reynaud made advancements on the standard zoetrope that children would be hypnotised by, and patented the praxinoscope. The difference? The ability to give further dimensions to the strips that are used to project a flowing film. And that's where Pauvre Pierrot comes in (roughly translated as "Poor Pete"), part one of three short stories that combined to produce Reynaud's 'Pantomimes Lumineuses'. Whilst the other two are considered lost, this third has had four minutes restored from its original fifteen minute runtime. And much to my surprise, it's just as viewable now as it was back in 1892.

The straightforward plot consists of a man teasing another man to scare him away from a woman he was trying to woo. The limited fluidity resulted in the story being as clunky as various frame transitions (occasionally pausing on every third strip), but for such an experimental ancient silent film, the story isn't exactly at the forefront. It's the innovation, and Reynaud was an innovator through and through. Just by staring at the detailed drawings that are able to exude featured facial expressions, you get a sense of commitment from Reynaud. The lack of narrative interest is seemingly masked by the grandeur of this static backdrop, and it's still stupendously amazing to watch today. Will I remember it next week? Most likely not. However it's imperative to appreciate the milestones that paved the way for films today, and Pauvre Pierrot is a technical achievement.