Lumière et compagnie (1995)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

Theodoros Angelopoulos
Vicente Aranda

Writer:

Philippe Poulet (original idea)

Release Date:

26 April 1996 (Spain)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

40 international directors were asked to make a short film using the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumière Brothers...

Plot Keywords:

Director | Hiroshima | Experimental Film | Compilation | Avant Garde

Cast

Jeffe Alperi	...	Policeman (segment "David Lynch")
Romane Bohringer	...	(segment "Claude Miller")
Michele Carlyle	...	(segment "David Lynch")
Lou Chapiteau	...	(segment "Claude Miller")
Marc Chapiteau	...	(segment "Claude Miller")
Antoine Duléry	...	(segment "Claude Lelouch")
Pascal Duquenne	...	(segment "Jaco Van Dormael")
Bruno Ganz	...	Damiel (segment "Wim Wenders")
Charles Gérard	...	(segment "Claude Lelouch")
Ticky Holgado	...	(segment "Claude Lelouch")
Isabelle Huppert	...	(segment "Abbas Kiarostami") (voice)
Neil Jordan	...	(segment "John Boorman")
Patrice Leconte	...	Himself (segment "Sarah Moon")
Satchel Lee	...	(segment "Spike Lee")
Spike Lee	...	Himself (segment "Sarah Moon")
Claude Lelouch	...	Himself (segment "Sarah Moon")
Stan Lothridge	...	Policeman (segment "David Lynch")
David Lynch	...	Himself
Alessandra Martines	...	(segment "Claude Lelouch")
François Mitterrand	...	Himself (segment "Régis Wargnier")
Liam Neeson	...	(segment "John Boorman")
Sven Nykvist	...	(segment "Liv Ullman")
Lena Olin	...	(segment "Lasse Hallström")
Idrissa Ouedraogo	...	Himself
Géraldine Pailhas	...	(segment "Cédric Klapisch")
Russ Pearlman	...	Child (segment "David Lynch")
Pam Pierrocish	...	Mother (segment "David Lynch")
Aidan Quinn	...	(segment "John Boorman")
Kathleen Raymond	...	(segment "David Lynch")
Stephen Rea	...	(segment "John Boorman")
Nathalie Richard	...	Ninon (segment "Jacques Rivette")
Alan Rickman	...	(segment "John Boorman")
Jacques Rivette	...	Himself (segment "Sarah Moon (I)")
Félix Romeo	...	Himself (segment "Fernando Trueba")
Joan Rudelstein	...	(segment "David Lynch")
Dawn Salcedo	...	(segment "David Lynch")
Otto Sander	...	Cassiel (segment "Wim Wenders")
Clyde Small	...	Father (segment "David Lynch")
Zinedine Soualem	...	(segment "Cédric Klapisch")
Liv Ullmann	...	Herself (segment "Sarah Moon (I)")
Mark Wood	...	Policeman (segment "David Lynch")
Yimou Zhang	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Lumière and Company (International: English title)
Lumiere y compañía (Spain)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

France | Denmark | Spain | Sweden

Language:

French | English | Danish | Norwegian | Swedish | Greek | Japanese | Mandarin

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Spain:T | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Athens, Greece

Company:

Cinétévé

Movie Connections:

References Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)

The old camera

The idea to gather 40 recognized film directors to shoot a mini film of less than a minute, or what would have been the format the Lumiere brothers used in their revolutionary camera, seems a great idea in paper. Unfortunately, what comes out is an uneven film where some of the short films hold our interest and some others that don't go anywhere.

What must have been an interesting idea doesn't translate to brilliant film making in the finished product. This documentary is for fans of the medium, but will not be of any interest to a casual viewer. Some of the most enjoyable ones are the ones by David Lynch, Helma Sanders, Claude Lelouch, Jaco Van Dormael, and Bigas Luna, just to mention a few. The rest, hold some interest, but don't quite add anything new to the idea behind the project.