This is among my favorite very early short films as it's about a topic I tend to think a lot when watching some of these old gems from time to time. How do you perceive a medium that is so new and you know so little about? Are you able to make the connection between what is reality and what is no more than a display of something which happened in the past and was already gone long before you experienced it, but somehow revived and now happening again. Or is it really?
Of course, when films became popular, there have been photographs already and people sort of understood that there is a parallel, only that these photographs are moving now, but I'm sure it must have genuinely confused many people in the late 19th and early 20th century. This is also the case for the central character in this short films. He dances carelessly with a girl put on screen before all of a sudden a train approaches. Closer and closer and closer until he has no choice but step to the side, so he won't get hit. Better not take the risk. I very much recommend this short film as it's one of the most interesting examples of film on film ever put on the screen.
Of course, when films became popular, there have been photographs already and people sort of understood that there is a parallel, only that these photographs are moving now, but I'm sure it must have genuinely confused many people in the late 19th and early 20th century. This is also the case for the central character in this short films. He dances carelessly with a girl put on screen before all of a sudden a train approaches. Closer and closer and closer until he has no choice but step to the side, so he won't get hit. Better not take the risk. I very much recommend this short film as it's one of the most interesting examples of film on film ever put on the screen.