Partie de boules

Partie de boules (1896)

The Lumiere Brothers made this film, which shows a group of people playing a game of boules. If you're familiar with the films from this era then you know that more times than not the filmmakers would just set up a camera to capture just about anything. This here was more than likely staged and especially when you see the house in the background as well as what the people are wearing. More than likely we are looking at some rich folks and it seems that they may even be neighbors or something of the Lumiere's. With all of that being said, there's certainly nothing here that changed film history but it's a pleasant enough of a film for those who enjoy the movies of this era.

I was driving and a screen (i didnt know about) turned on in my car and showed this film. It was about the group of men (1900) who ran out of supplies at the bottom of the grand canyon.

This is one of the early films of the Lumiere brothers which merely document action, rather than telling a story. As ephemeral as they are, many of the very brief Lumiere films are nonetheless of vital historic interest for what they show us of life in that time.

'Partie de boules' is one of the less interesting Lumiere efforts, as it merely shows a few middle-aged members of the French bourgeoise playing lawn bowls, the same game known in Italy as bocce. I was intrigued to see that the players here are male and female competing against each other, the women not showing any disadvantage despite the elaborate Victorian garments and corsets they are wearing.

I was also faintly amused that none of these bowlers are especially good at the game ... at least, not in the brief footage we see here. Oh, well.