Demolition of a Wall

Even when you could not care less about what you see on screen, watching a single shot created by Louis and Auguste Lumière gives you a weird feeling. Knowing that the images are shot over a hundred years ago, knowing that their little films are so important for the cinema we have today, makes it very interesting.

In 'Démolition d'un Mur' we see a man ordering his workers to tear down a wall. It represents a lot of things, whether that is intended or not, and that makes this single shot even more interesting. For its historical value alone it is worth watching, but there is some real joy in watching this Lumière film.

In 1896 the projectionists could completely disregard the wishes of the cameraman and crank a film faster or slower than it was shot. This could produce an effect not intended by the filmmaker. In this case, however, the film is cranked through the projector at normal speed (16 frames-per-second) and we see four men demolishing a ten-foot masonry wall with sledge hammers, picks, and an interesting device that seems to be a hand-cranked ram used to facilitate the toppling of the wall. Having reached the end of the film; the projectionist starts cranking in reverse, at a slightly faster speed, and the wall arises from the rubble (like a phoenix from the ashes) to resume its former place.

this can be considered the first great film. Whereas 'Sortie d'Usine' and 'Repas de Bebe' are interesting theoretically, for the ideas they provoke, and nostalgically, as the first films, for unwittingly embodying a period, a century, a sensibility long vanished, 'Demolition d'un mur' stands up on its own, offering genuine excitement.

A group of workers, instructed by a foreman, hack away at a wall until it falls down. This film is brilliant for a number of reasons. First of all, it is possibly the first act of self-reflexivity in the cinema, the foreman barking orders to his workers mirroring the director(s) organising his crew.

But this dream of order is thrillingly destroyed, and hierarchies abolished by a supreme act of violence. As the wall finally collapses, lumbering as Boris Karloff, a whirling storm of dust and chips swallows the scene, and the screen. The foreman, once the centre of power and order, is marginalised, pushed to the edge of the screen or off it entirely. The workers, at first mere servants, hands of the capitalist machine, become demented, and start hacking away at the wall's stump. This, a single, conservative, static set-up, overspills with energy, destruction, violence.

That the Lumieres were a little afraid of what they had done can be seen in the trick they used at screenings of projecting the finished film backwards, so that the wall would be restored, and the old order reasserted. This is a good trick - it is a visual, special-effect; it shows cinema's triumph over mortality and the fixed; it shows that cinema, for all its claims to realism and documentary objectivity, is essentially a fantastic medium.

But it also reassures the audience, negating the impact and implications of the scene, showing that destruction is not final, can be reversed. The revolution can be quelled. Cinema, once again, is used for conservative ends, but this time we can sense the hysteria, the sense of a medium going beyond the intentions of its makers. That irrepressible scene of whirling, all-consuming smoke was unexpected by the directors; it is a brief glimpse of the power of a cinema that is not controlled, a power rarely utilised; indeed rarely desired.

The film also works as a compelling ghost story, the image of that single bare wall, the ruins of a former construction, a building, a room; what happened to it? What is being destroyed to feed our taste for sensation?

'Demolition Of A Wall (1896)' depicts a work crew... demolishing a wall. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, a twist comes about halfway through that shouldn't fail to put a smile on your face. This short is, as I understand it, the first use of a specific cinematic technique which I won't spoil here. Though it's a basic trick, it certainly would've blown away audiences (especially considering they were still impressed that pictures could move in the first place). There's a bit of tension as the wall teeters on the edge of falling, and a burst of destructive glee as it collapses to the ground. Then, the thing pulls the rug out from under you and treats you to a nice visual surprise. Again, it's very basic. It's effectively unexpected, though, and gives the film its own distinct identity. Once again, it's hard to rate these pioneering pictures. Regardless of how traditionally entertaining it is, it's well worth a watch. 7/10.

I watched this film on a DVD that was rammed with short films from the period. I didn't watch all of them as the main problem with these type of things that their value is more in their historical novelty value rather than entertainment. So to watch them you do need to be put in the correct context so that you can keep this in mind and not watch it with modern eyes. With the Primitives & Pioneers DVD collection though you get nothing to help you out, literally the films are played one after the other (the main menu option is "play all") for several hours. With this it is hard to understand their relevance and as an educational tool it falls down as it leaves the viewer to fend for themselves, which I'm sure is fine for some viewers but certainly not the majority. What it means is that the DVD saves you searching the web for the films individually by putting them all in one place – but that's about it.

Anyway onto this film which is an early action scene wherein, as you may already know if you have some basic French – a wall is demolished. I do like early silent films that have these descriptive titles and it would be useful to have it today – for example Transformers could have been "big CGI things hitting one another for reasons you'll not care about" and so on. So this is what it does and it is interesting to see the absence of EHS here as the wall is essentially just pushed over. Once it has fallen the film plays backwards to show the wall being recreated. It is a simple effect that offers little to the modern viewer but I imagine that it made a bit of a stir when it happened to audiences in the day.

Otherwise though, it is so-so film to watch because walls falling down are not that interesting, if they were we would have summer blockbusters about such events (well I suppose we do but it is all about scale). Historically interesting in regards the developmental work of Lumière but that's about the lot.