Après le bal

1897. The very first nude scene ever filmed came out in that year, presented in this Méliès classic. Some call it, the first adult movie ever made. I wonder if there were outcries or any kind of negative reaction, censorship or something when of its release, there isn't much that can be found about it.

Here, more than a hundred years later it seems that cinema haven't evolved in terms of how nudity is presented and viewed by general public. Sure, nudity scenes are far more present and far more visible than what can be seen in "Après Le Bal" ("After the Ball"), sometimes showed as an art, other times merely exploitative, but it's always an issue that brings controversy, to some. And Méliès film is a perfect example that illustrates that a nude scene, actors naked on screen, shouldn't be a matter of negative discussions. They must be appreciated, seen in the same light as we see ourselves in our daily routine as we do, it's our body and there's nothing wrong with it.

The movie: a maid prepares the bath for his lady boss, who undresses and enters in a tin tub while the servant washes her. A simple action in the 1800's, a very natural thing. The cleverness comes from the way it was filmed, a behind perspective rather than frontal exposures, perhaps the main reason why this film escaped from harsh criticism.

Georges Méliès was a genius. He could take us to the moon, present devils and angels, wonderful magicians, men with floating heads and give us the human body as it is. That must have been a dazzling magic trick to many in the audience back in the day. 9/10

Oh yes, this was so exciting to me, to see her butt!!! I mean I'd been waiting for such a long time to see her naked and then all of a sudden before I knew it she turned around and I could see it: another dream which came true. Thank you, prostitutes of the old age. I mean, she must be lying in her grave by now, but thanks to the invention of the movie system her past body still knows how to excite men! That's like watching a picture of the breasts of Marilyn Monroe: very superb.

A rather large woman has apparently been to a ball (the title tells us). She has a maid who helps her undress and get ready for a bath. We watch as she removes articles of clothing and actually stands nude in a kind of tub as her made pours water over her. There had to be some kind of response to this at the turn of the century. Melies was probably testing the waters a bit.

I'm not making this up: This movie, from 1897, was the first ever "adult" film. It is very tame by today's standards. You could show it on tv with no problems. It involved two women, wearing skin colored suits. One of them is in a bath, and the other has a pitcher full of ashes - the ash is supposed to be water, but the water wouldn't show up on the 19th century film. So she pours the ashes over her and washes her. It's about a minute long. Melies advertised this in his film catalogue as ideal for bachelor parties.

After the Ball (1897)

** (out of 4)

aka Apres le bal

As the title suggests, a woman returns home from a ball and begins to get undressed with the help of her servant. I guess this film would enter the genre of those early films that tried to show a little bit of nudity for the male viewers. There's some nudity in this film that will certainly make some viewers raise their eyes but this did happen in quite a few shorts of this era. There's really nothing here that stands out as being a film from Melies but this works best as a history lesson of early nudity on film. It's also worth noting that when you watch the film pay attention to the servant towards the end of the movie as she is looking off screen and talking, apparently the director, asking if he has finished filming.