Embarquement d'une chaudière

This 40-second Lumiere Brothers actuality (Lumiere No. 20) shows ten men (one only visible at the very end) loading a large boiler on a ship. Three of the men climb down a ladder in front of the boiler after securing a large rope. After this, two of the men carry the ladder away, before the rest go back to getting all of the ropes in place.

Loading a Boiler shows far less attention to composition than some of the Lumiere Brothers' other work, such as Enfants pêchant des crevettes (Children Digging for Clams, 1896) and Baignade en mer (Swimming in the Sea, 1895). The steel "masts" of the ship cut across the frame irregularly, the men on top of the boiler are cut off, the image seems crooked and the choice of action seems more arbitrary.

Still, the short is worth watching as a historical curiosity. Among other things, it's interesting to note that two of the three men climbing down the ladder are doing so in the direction that many would consider "backwards". Loading a Boiler is just not nearly as aesthetically rewarding as some other early shorts.

While nothing much really happens in this Lumiere actuality, the scene is still of interesting because it depicts a time long gone. When you view this, you must realize that the minute of film you see of some men climbing down a ladder propped against a boiler, and the men using ropes and tubes to load it, was not staged. When you see it you are witnessing life from over a hundred and twenty years ago. Yes, there are probably more interesting films by the Lumiere Brothers, but this one alone is worth seeing for the fact that through it you can see life of the 19th century when living in the 21st!

This Lumière footage of a large boiler being loaded onto a ship is mildly interesting, though rather static, especially in comparison with most other Lumière features of the same era. Given the size and scale of the subject matter, though, it may be about as good a job as anyone could have done with the earliest motion picture equipment.

As is the case with a good number of the earliest movies, this covers a sight that many of us would not otherwise see, and for that reason it is rather interesting to see what is involved. The operation looks rather complicated, with several men involved, using ladders and ropes. But the way it is filmed sometimes either cuts off or obscures some of what is going on, so that you sometimes feel as if you are missing some of the action, and not getting quite the whole picture of the process.

Composition was usually one of the notable strengths of the Lumière features, even the very earliest ones, and so this one's flaws around the edges may simply be a result of the difficulty of capturing this particular scene in its entirety. It's still worth seeing, as are all of the Lumière movies, for its historical value and its choice of subject matter.