The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
Release date: 1896-06-30
Votes: 499
Genres: Documentary
A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.
Reviews
Zepfanman
This famous film was ACTUALLY MADE IN 1897, Lumière catalogue #653: https://catalogue-lumiere.com/arrivee-train-a-la-ciotat/ People have studied the age of the Lumière children from several of their Ciotat train films and this uncatalogued version is more likely from 1896: youtu.be/1dgLEDdFddk With that aside, the 4K restoration from the 2015 Blu-ray of the 1897 film is gorgeous! The Lumière brothers were masters of perspective and framing. youtu.be/1FAj9fJQRZA
Movie Recommendation
Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory1895-03-22Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.More...
The Sprinkler Sprinkled1895-06-10A gardener is watering his flowers, when a mischievous boy sneaks up behind his back, and puts a foot on the water hose. The gardener is surprised and looks into the nozzle to find out why the water has stopped coming. The boy then lifts his foot from the hose, whereby the water squirts up in the gardener's face. The gardener chases the boy, grips his ear and slaps him in his buttocks. The boy then runs away and the gardener continues his watering. Three separate versions of this film exist, this is the original, filmed by Louis Lumière.More...
The Four Troublesome Heads1898-11-30One of the greatest of black art pictures. The conjurer appears before the audience, with his head in its proper place. He then removes his head, and throwing it in the air, it appears on the table opposite another head, and both detached heads sing in unison. The conjurer then removes it a third time. You then see all three of his heads, which are exact duplicates, upon the table at one time, while the conjurer again stands before the audience with his head perfectly intact, singing in unison with the three heads upon the table. He closes the picture by bowing himself from the stage.More...
The Cabbage-Patch Fairy1896-03-31A brief fantasy tale involving a strange fairy who can produce and deliver babies coming out of cabbages. This film is lost or never existed. Copies of it online are actually the 1900 remake.More...
The Photographical Congress Arrives in Lyon1895-06-12Down the gangway, photographers leave the deck of a riverboat in large numbers.More...
Tokyo Train Girls: Private Lessons2009-09-25New teacher Chihiro has been on the job for three months. She does her job with great enthusiasm, but she has a secret that nobody must know. As a student, she accumulated debt in order to keep up with her well-to-do friends. She can’t pay it back on the wages of a teacher so she started working part-time as a Chat-Lady. In front of a web camera that hides her face, she shakes her breasts and hips. By chance, her student, Kazuaki discovers the web site.More...
The Dreyfus Affair1899-11-04The first movie ever censored for political reasons. The title refers to the then contemporaneous Dreyfus affair in which a Jewish military officer was falsely convicted of treason, and it was alleged that he was framed due to anti-semitism.More...
Game of Cards1896-02-20Three men are sitting around a table, two of them playing a game of Écarté. When the game is over, a domestic serves drinks.More...
The Kiss in the Tunnel1899-11-30Produced and directed by George Albert Smith, the film shows a couple sharing a brief kiss as their train passes through a tunnel. The Kiss in the Tunnel is said to mark the beginnings of narrative editing. It is in fact, two films in one, hence the 2 min length. Firstly, the G.A. Smith film here for the central cheeky scene in the carriage. The train view footage however is Cecil Hepworth's work, entitled 'View From An Engine Front - Shilla Mill Tunnel', edited into two halves in order to provide a visual narrative of the train entering the tunnel before the kiss and then leaving afterwards. More information about the filming of the phantom train ride can be found searching for the Hepworth film separately.More...
Annabelle Serpentine Dance1895-04-01In a long, diaphanous skirt, held out by her hands with arms extended, Broadway dancer Annabelle Moore performs. Her dance emphasizes the movement of the flowing cloth. She moves to her right and left across an unadorned stage. Many of the prints were distributed in hand-tinted color.More...
Post No Bills1896-01-01A soldier stands guard at a sentry box and leaves it unprotected for a moment, a moment that two men take advantage of to put up posters where it is prohibited.More...
Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'2007-10-23In this documentary, we follow Stanley Kubrick as he creates one of the most controversial films of all time, one that retains its power to shock audiences, even after 35 years. At the time of its release, A Clockwork Orange created a firestorm of controversy. Through interviews with collaborators, filmmakers, screenwriters and authors, we come to appreciate Stanley Kubrick as an artist unafraid to take risks and court controversy, committed unwaveringly to his single-minded goal: the highest artistic quality of his films.More...
Washerwomen on the River1897-10-26Women wash clothes in a washhouse on the edge of a river.More...
Eye Myth1967-08-28After the title, a white screen gives way to a series of frames suggestive of abstract art, usually with one or two colors dominating and rapid change in the images. Two figures emerge from this jungle of color: the first, a shirtless man, appears twice, coming into focus, then disappearing behind the bursts and patterns of color, then reappearing; the second figure appears later, in the right foreground. This figure suggests someone older, someone of substance. The myth? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.More...
Kink2013-01-19Director Christina Voros and producer James Franco pull back the curtain on the fetish empire of Kink.com, the Internet's largest producer of BDSM content. In a particularly obscure corner of an industry that operates largely out of public view, Kink.com's directors and models strive for authenticity. In an enterprise often known for exploitative practices, Kink.com upholds an ironclad set of values to foster an environment that is safe, sane, and consensual.More...
Pop1974-09-20The train just runs. A collage of various images, including cel animation and drawing, animates smoke emitted from trains. The title comes from both the sound of a passing train and Pop Art (Yōji Kuri).More...
Man Walking Around a Corner1887-08-18The last remaining production of Le Prince's LPCC Type-16 (16-lens camera) is part of a gelatine film shot in 32 images/second, and pictures a man walking around a corner. Le Prince, who was in Leeds (UK) at that time, sent these images to his wife in New York City in a letter dated 18 August 1887.More...
Demolition of a Wall1896-03-06Auguste Lumière directs four workers in the demolition of an old wall at the Lumière factory. One worker is pressing the wall inwards with a jackscrew, while another is pushing it with a pick. When the wall hits the ground, a cloud of white dust whirls up. Three workers continue the demolition of the wall with picks.More...
A Trip to the Moon1902-06-15Professor Barbenfouillis and five of his colleagues from the Academy of Astronomy travel to the Moon aboard a rocket propelled by a giant cannon. Once on the lunar surface, the bold explorers face the many perils hidden in the caves of the mysterious planet.More...
A Nightmare1896-12-25A man has a fantastical nightmare involving, among other things, a grinning malevolent moon.More...
Similar Movies
Balladur-Chirac, mens...
2017-03-23There is no descriptionThe Incredible Mr. Pi...
2017-05-28A captivating portrait of French actor Michel Piccoli, who has worked with the greatest filmmakers of his time and has built a dazzling career of remarkable merit and success, focusing on his work during the 1970s and his professional relationship with Claude Sautet, Romy Schneider, Marco Ferreri and Luis Buñuel.Dinosaurs Alive
2007-03-30See the earliest creatures of the Triassic Period to the monsters of the Cretaceous in a ‘life-sized’ IMAX ® presentation. Join renowned paleontologists as they discover new fossils and uncover evidence that dinosaur descendants are still among us. Realistic and scientifically-accurate computer generated animation brings dinosaurs back to life…in a big way!The Irishman: In Conv...
2019-11-27Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in conversation about The Irishman.The Cyberpunk Educato...
2003-01-01A 2003 documentary study of mainstream Cyberpunk films of the 1980s created by director Andrew J. Holden. The film uses the structure of literary theorist Northrop Frye to describe the common, repeating stories in Western culture, and how Cyberpunk can be defined and understood according to that analysis, with a focus toward American film industry portrayal of race, gender, and government.Under the Sea 3D
2009-02-13Imagine a world of incredible color and beauty. Of crabs wearing jellyfish for hats. Of fish disguised as frogs, stones and shag carpets. Of a kaleidoscope of life dancing and weaving, floating and darting in an underwater wonderland. Now, go explore it! Howard Hall and his filmmaking team, who brought you Deep Sea and Into the Deep, take you into tropical waters alive with adventure: the Great Barrier Reef and other South Pacific realms. Narrated by Jim Carrey and featuring astonishing camerawork, this amazing film brings you face to fin with Nature's marvels, from the terrible grandeur (and terrible teeth) of a Great White to the comic antics of a lovestruck cuttlefish. Excitement and fun run deep Under the Sea!A French Youth
2024-11-15In the heart of the Camargue region, in the south of France, Jawad and Belka find freedom in their love of Camargue races. For these young Maghrebi men, the event is more than a simple tradition. Facing off with a bull is an opportunity to establish their place in the arena—and in French society. But at what cost?Seasons in the Mind
1971-05-22A portrait film of Eastern Ontario directed by Peter Pearson who’s films include the award winner’s like “The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar" (1968) and the classic Canadian feature film, "Paperback Hero" (1973). "Seasons in the Mind" includes a talent show section set in Arnprior, Ontario.Secret Life of Babies...
2014-06-03Think you know your baby? Think again. This beautifully shot, heart-warming and scientifically revealing film, narrated by Martin Clunes, brings you babies as you've never seen them before. The first two years of our lives are the most critical of all. We grow more, learn more, move more and even fight more than at any other time in our life. We have to master the complex skills of walking, talking and relating to the world around us. But we are not yet built like an adult. We have more bones in our body at birth than an adult does, yet we don't have kneecaps. We laugh 300 times a day as a baby, but in the first few months we can't produce tears when we're upset. Secret Life of Babies reveals all these facts and more, telling incredible stories of babies' resilience and survival skills to boot.The Wormwood Star
1956-01-01A portrait of artist, actress, poet and occultist Marjorie Cameron, it shows images of her paintings and recitations of her poems. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2006.The End of Time
2017-04-05An experimental film about that one hypnotic moment on a regular, unassuming Tuesday when one realizes that time has stopped and the universe has been sucked into a single smile.Hi, How Are You Danie...
2015-11-11Daniel Johnston stars in this psychedelic short film about an aging musician coming to terms with the dreams of yesteryear.Granny's Flags
2013-01-01Haja Fatma, a mother to eight children, tells the tale of family life in Tripoli during the Libyan Revolution. Women, young and old, all contributed during these hostile months in their own unique way. A human portal into the acts of ordinary people in their hope for freedom.Hedda Hopper's Hollyw...
1941-12-05Hedda Hopper plays hostess at a party for her (grown) son William (DeWolfe Jr.). Hopper, attends the dedication of the Motion Picture Relief Fund's country home and goes to the Mocambo. There is also a sequence dedicated to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin world premiere of the first short in this series attended by more that a few film stars.80 years of Air Army
2014-06-21There is no descriptionChinese Stories
1999-09-24The history of Chinese migration to Mexico, from its birth at the start of the twentieth century, through the Mexican revolution, the anti-Chinese movement, and up to the current state of Chinese migrants in the country. A documentary about xenophobia in Mexico and the search for identity of a group of people caught between two cultures.Crónica de un galgódr...
2020-03-06Gardeners, veterinarians and breeders. And some imposing mammals capable of running at seventy kilometers per hour: the baths in the sun, the runway before the confrontation. And the money, the bets and the runners speed around a dizzying track.Silencio
2020-03-18Sound progression of two opposite landscapes.A President, Europe a...
2022-10-10They call each other Emmanuel and Vladimir - but despite the informal tone, a fateful negotiation is taking place. During France's presidency of the EU, President Macron takes on the task of negotiating with President Putin in an attempt to prevent an invasion of Ukraine. For the first time, we get to follow the diplomatic game behind the scenes and hear parts of their phone conversations.Comrades in Dreams
2006-10-15Four lives that could not be more different and a single passion that unites them: the unconditional love for their cinemas, somewhere at the end of the world. Comrades in Dreams brings together six cinema makers from North Korea, America, India and Africa and follows their efforts to make their audiences dream every night.