L'Arroseur Arrosé
Encyclopedia
L'Arroseur arrosé is an 1895
French
short
black-and-white
silent
comedy film
directed and produced by Louis Lumière
and starring François Clerc and Benoît Duval. It was first screened on June 10, 1895.
It has the distinction of being the earliest known instance of film comedy
, as well as the first use of film to portray a fiction
al story. The film was originally known as "Le Jardinier" (The Gardener) or "Le Jardinier et le petit espiègle", and is sometimes referred to in English as "The Tables Turned on the Gardener", and "The Sprinkler Sprinkled".
in the spring of 1895, the film portrays a simple practical joke in which a gardener is tormented by a boy who steps on the hose
that the gardener is using to water his plants, cutting off the water flow. When the gardener tilts the nozzle up to inspect it, the boy releases the hose, causing the water to spray him. The gardener is stunned and his hat is knocked off, but he soon catches on. A chase ensues, both on and off-screen (the camera never moves from its original position) until the gardener catches the boy and administers a spanking
. The entire film lasts only 49 seconds, but this simple bit of slapstick
may be the forerunner of all subsequent film comedy.
, the cinema was used by pioneers such as Thomas Edison
and the Lumières to entertain by the sheer novelty of the invention, and most films were short recordings of mundane events, such as a sneeze
, or the arrival of a train
. Ever seeking to innovate, the Lumières took some of the first steps toward narrative
film with L'Arroseur arrosé. Given the documentary
nature of existing films up until this point, a scripted, comedic film shown among these was unexpected by an audience, enhancing its comedic surprise value.
It was filmed by means of the Cinématographe
, an all-in-one camera, which also serves as a film projector and developer. As with all early Lumière movies, this film was made in a 35 mm format
with an aspect ratio
of 1.33:1.
The poster for L'Arroseur arrosé has the distinction of being the first poster ever designed to promote an individual film. Although posters had been used to advertise cinematic projection shows since 1890, these early posters were typically devoted to describing the quality of the recordings and touting the technological novelty of these shows. The poster for L'Arroseur, illustrated by Marcellin Auzolle, depicts an audience (in the foreground) laughing as the film (in the background) is projected against a screen. It depicts the moment the gardener is splashed in the face, and is thus also the first film poster to depict an actual scene from a film.
, titled L'Arroseur
, in 1896. French New Wave
director François Truffaut
later included an homage
to the gag in his 1958 film, Les Mistons
.
1895 in film
-Events:* February–March - Robert W. Paul and Birt Acres build and run the first working 35 mm movie camera in Britain, the Kineopticon. Their first films include Incident at Clovelly Cottage, The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race and Rough Sea at Dover.* In France, the brothers...
French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed and produced by Louis Lumière
Auguste and Louis Lumière
The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history...
and starring François Clerc and Benoît Duval. It was first screened on June 10, 1895.
It has the distinction of being the earliest known instance of film comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, as well as the first use of film to portray a fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al story. The film was originally known as "Le Jardinier" (The Gardener) or "Le Jardinier et le petit espiègle", and is sometimes referred to in English as "The Tables Turned on the Gardener", and "The Sprinkler Sprinkled".
Plot
Shot in LyonLyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
in the spring of 1895, the film portrays a simple practical joke in which a gardener is tormented by a boy who steps on the hose
Garden hose
A garden hose is a flexible tube used to carry water. There are a number of common attachments available for the end of the hose, such as sprayers and sprinklers...
that the gardener is using to water his plants, cutting off the water flow. When the gardener tilts the nozzle up to inspect it, the boy releases the hose, causing the water to spray him. The gardener is stunned and his hat is knocked off, but he soon catches on. A chase ensues, both on and off-screen (the camera never moves from its original position) until the gardener catches the boy and administers a spanking
Spanking
Spanking refers to the act of striking the buttocks of another person to cause temporary pain without producing physical injury. It generally involves one person striking the buttocks of another person with an open hand. When an open hand is used, spanking is referred to in some countries as...
. The entire film lasts only 49 seconds, but this simple bit of slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
may be the forerunner of all subsequent film comedy.
Production
In the earliest years of the history of filmHistory of film
The history of film is the historical development of the medium known variously as cinema, motion pictures, film, or the movies.The history of film spans over 100 years, from the latter part of the 19th century to the present day...
, the cinema was used by pioneers such as Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
and the Lumières to entertain by the sheer novelty of the invention, and most films were short recordings of mundane events, such as a sneeze
Fred Ott's Sneeze
Fred Ott's Sneeze is an 1894 American, short, black-and-white, silent documentary film shot by William K.L. Dickson and starring Fred Ott. It was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.In the five-second film one of Thomas Edison's assistants, Fred Ott, takes a pinch of...
, or the arrival of a train
L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de la Ciotat
L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent documentary film directed...
. Ever seeking to innovate, the Lumières took some of the first steps toward narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
film with L'Arroseur arrosé. Given the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
nature of existing films up until this point, a scripted, comedic film shown among these was unexpected by an audience, enhancing its comedic surprise value.
It was filmed by means of the Cinématographe
Cinematographe
A cinematograph is a film camera, which also serves as a film projector and developer. It was invented in the 1890s.Note that this was not the first 'moving picture' device. Louis Le Prince had built early devices in 1886. His 1888 film Roundhay Garden Scene still survives.There is much dispute as...
, an all-in-one camera, which also serves as a film projector and developer. As with all early Lumière movies, this film was made in a 35 mm format
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
with an aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
of 1.33:1.
Cast
Louis Lumière used his own gardener, François Clerc, to portray the gardener. For the mischievous boy, Lumière used a young apprentice carpenter from the Lumière factory who is variously credited as Daniel Duval and Benoît Duval. But Léon Trotobas seems to have been the first boy to play the role in La Ciotat.- François Clerc as Gardener
- Léon Trotobas, then Benoît Duval as Boy (sometimes credited as Daniel Duval)
The poster
Copies and Imitations
As copyright law was neither enforced nor yet well-defined for the emerging art of cinema, it was common both for competing filmmakers to reshoot a popular film short and for distributors to duplicate a film print to show as their own. Through these practices, L'Arroseur arrosé was copied several times and released under a number of different titles in both France and the US, including at least one remake by the Lumières, themselves. Little is known about most of these copies, although one known remake was filmed by Georges MélièsGeorges Méliès
Georges Méliès , full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. He was very innovative in the use of special effects...
, titled L'Arroseur
L'Arroseur
L'Arroseur is an 1896 French short black-and-white silent comedy film directed and produced by French magician Georges Méliès....
, in 1896. French New Wave
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
director François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
later included an homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to the gag in his 1958 film, Les Mistons
Les mistons
Les Mistons is a short film directed by François Truffaut in 1957.The story takes place in provincial France, where a group of young boys are infatuated with a beautiful young woman...
.
Current status
Given its age, this short film is available to freely download from the Internet. It has also featured in a number of film collections including Landmarks of Early Film volume 1.External links
- Complete film on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- The Lumiere Institute, Lyon, France