L'iris fantastique

A throwaway proscenium piece from Segundo De Chomon that suggests he was either reluctant (or struggling) to adapt to the new cinematic style, or he found a film he'd forgotten he made in 1905 on a dusty shelf and decided he might as well release it.

This film from Segundo de Chomón looks very old fashioned today and I wonder if this is what audiences also thought in 1912 when it debuted. While this sort of fantasy film would have worked very well in the previous decade, by 1912 more and more films were being made outside in the real world and stagey sets were becoming less and less popular. So, when you see that Segundo has all of the film take place on a stage, it seems like a nod to the past--and the same can be said for most of his film tricks (though the use of water was good for a change of pace).

There isn't a lot of story to this one--just pretty girls by 1912's standards moving about with arched backs in various tableaux with a theme of flowers. Not particularly enjoyable when seen today--I do wonder what folks in the day thought of this one.