User reviews

While it is impossible to judge this early experiment by the standards of cinema, we can see it is an important and imitated film. Two of Robert Paul's earliest films were "Rough Seas at Margate" -- indeed, he shot two variations of it. It's hard to imagine that Paul had not seen or at least heard of Marey's efforts, which he spent the 1880s producing, after he had invented the "chronophotograph gun". Birt Acres also did a version of this, with "Rough Seas at Dover". Thus, you could say that Marey invented the first film genre, even before the Butterfly Dance movies, or people coming out of factories on their ways home.

Marey also did an ur-cartoon, "L'Homme Machine" but never seems to have capitalized on his inventions in this particular field. He remains an interesting bypath in the invention of cinema.

La vague (1891)

Etienne-Hules Marey is a name forgotten by most but this is one of the earliest examples of a movie from France. This clocks in at only a few seconds and what we see is a wave hitting some rocks.

If you're watching a movie from 1891 you really can't expect to judge it the same way you would something from 1991. The film certainly doesn't contain anything ground-breaking but I can't help but get chills when I watch these early examples of cinema. Just knowing that this footage is among the very first ever recorded gives it a bit of history that is just fascinating and you can't help but wonder what it would have been like seeing it when it was first made.

There's a great quality which can be set from looking at lager the wave in the very early riser to be want to say like that before and the other ones also took it and it's strange but it's true that the way it is going off against the rock and that is the first work of art in history almost at your like watching a painting of Picasso that is coming alive moving against your wall and everything is shaking and you can only watch the water move again and again and again and because of this it is obvious to say that it is clear to notice that this work of art really is worth watching them because of this people nowadays in the young school should still be watching movies from more than 100 years ago.

The whole thing is only a couple secs long, but on YouTube it's shown in a loop to make it seem longer. If you've seen other films like this, then you're probably aware that many of these early films had no plot. Filmmakers filmed anything they could, regardless of story. "La Vague" isn't too interesting when viewed without a historical standpoint because not much is happening and the title gives it all away. (No plot twist at ALL!) But, being one of the very first films ever made (made after Le Prince's movies and Edison movies, but before Edison opened his Kinetsocope parlor) it remains interesting for film buffs and historians. You're seeing history. So enjoy.