Instead, it's episodic — it's a series of vignettes depicting shockingly short scenes. And in the climactic moment of the Ascension sequence (and of the
Colorization was achieved using the Pathecolor/Pathechrome stencil-based film tinting process, which had been invented around 1903 by Pathe Freres, one of the most important and innovative film … That famous raising of Lazarus? There are also (I read) hidden roosters in every single scene (the Pathé logo) which were always added by Pathé to their films.Firstly, the framing is great for the most part (or at least I prefer it to the Guy film) which is important given the mostly static camera. Synopsis: 1. The effects mainly exist for angels to appear and disappear, sometimes in the heavens, sometimes not, as in a great scene where Joseph and his family are protected from hostile pursuers. If you are interested than this will be a worthwhile read...Now on to the main thing: the color. The story of Jesus Christ, from the proclamation of his Nativity to his Ascension into heaven. The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1905) A+ One of the 15 films listed in the category "Religion" on the Vatican film list. Both this (and the 1906 Guy version) are a series of simple scenes representing different events in the story with each scene introduced by title card. My memory had been tainted by our collective, default way of telling the story: Bethlehem, carpentry apprenticeship, miracles aplenty, trouble brewing among the Sadducees, death, resurrection. Each scene starts with a title card briefly describing the following action. The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ - 1903 (film) La Vie et la Passion de Jésus Christ (The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ) 1903. The Life and Passion of Jesus, beautifully hand-colored scenes are interspersed with title cards for a movingly transcendent religious experience of Jesus Christ’s last days on Earth. Just a knockout. According to Bucketstein the copy he uploaded is from an institution in the Netherlands. To use one comparison with the Alice Guy version, in this version in the crucifixion scene when Jesus is raised after being nailed to the cross, the top of the cross comes to rest just inside the top of the frame, but in the Alice Guy version the top of the cross is out of frame, cropped out so to speak.Secondly, the camera isn't entirely static but is panned in a few scenes quite well, as I mentioned. Original title: La Passion de Notre-Seigneur Jésus Christ. Wikipedia lists this as the earliest surviving color feature film. Because of this (and the framing, and the color) the scenes vaguely remind me somewhat of staged renaissance paintings, although as one review I read pointed out the annunciation is composed incorrectly (Mary is on the left side of the frame but the tradition in art is for her to be on the right side).Finally, the Méliès inspired special effects are also very well handled. As such, it is one of the earliest feature-length narrative films.
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You may not be the most religious person out there, but true cinephiles cannot deny certain qualities this French silent classic possesses! Impressive staging and beautiful hand-coloring distinguish the film from its Passion-play counterparts; Its scale and dynamic crowds prelude the Italian epics to come. IMDB lists the running time as 44 minutes, and that's the same as the commercial Lobster Films release (which is available on Google Video). gospel stories, as when the Magi show up along with the shepherds
The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ. But the parts I watched were impressively produced, with very good hand tinting and Méliès-style special effects (lacking his whimsy, though)The best Christ film I've seen yet. However the filmmaking by Ferdinand Zecca and Lucien Nonguet created a paramount religious relic left from a time of special effects miracles and crowds flailing their hands to show agitation.
Its is a sequence of events you observe rather than feeling any particular connection to it.I wish more films looked as good as this. It doesn't linger on any part long enough for you to be bored by anything, though also not particularly compelled either. As such, most of this film was lost on me. introduced by a simple title card such as "The Annunciation" or
years later. Anyway, you can tell this is quite well-made, though it is far from imaginative or particularly creative. at the Nativity, or when the miraculous catch of fishes is
It might be the fact that in the last two days I've watched 100+ films made before 1910 (almost none of which are on Letterboxd) but I can say with some confidence that camera panning was unusual at that time (although not unheard of) but is used in this film. The Guy film rushes through his life to get to the passion. I'm not the only one, in fact the YouTube comments are enlightening in that they prove I'm not completely insane and shed some light on the matter.Commenting on this Bucketstein version on YouTube a commenter by the name of Musicman14231 also noticed the discrepency and asked a few questions. On the Life and the Passion of Christ or CPC 0113 is an apocryphal account of Jesus written in Sahidic.According to its written introduction, it is "a homily which the holy Apa Cyril [...] delivered", meaning Cyril of Jerusalem.Scholars, however, assume the homily to be a Pseudo-Cyrillian work. I watched both.