This passion play came on the heels of (and shouldn't be confused with) Pathé's 1903 "La vie et la passion de Jésus Christ," which is also available on the web and DVD and lasts over 40 minutes, which was an extraordinary length for the time. Soon after this Gaumont Jesus picture, Pathé produced yet another such film itself. From nearly the beginning of cinema as a commercial medium, multi-tableaux passion plays were filmed. In France, a filmmaker named Léar made 12 scenes on Christ in 1897. The Lumiére Company made a 13-scene version sometime around 1897 to 1898. American productions based on the Horitz and Oberammergau performances were also being made early on. Alice Guy, the director-producer of this one had already made another passion film in 1899 for Gaumont.
Gaumont's "La vie du Christ" is especially interesting to compare to the available 1903 Pathé film. At about 33 minutes and 25 tableaux, this one isn't quite as long as Pathé's, which lasts over 40 minutes and 35 tableaux. The significant difference, however, is in their approaches to the subject, or style. The Pathé film was very much centered in the tradition of Georges Méliès and his féeries (fairy films), with its décor, fairy/angel characters, and an emphasis on the attraction of trick effects and color. Gaumont's film also includes such angels, but is more naturalistic (especially in set design), as well as biblical--being based on the watercolor, or gouache, illustrations of James Tissot's Bible, as opposed to the Francophone fairy tale rendered by Pathé. Both adopt the tableaux style, with title cards describing proceeding shot-scenes.
While Guy's version appears more distant--the long shots are from very far away in some scenes, these compositions tend to be elaborately layered and with our focus drawn to the central positioning of certain characters. Figures also variously enter and exit scenes horizontally and vertically, which somewhat alleviates the staginess. There is remarkable staging in depth in some scenes. Additionally, there are a few pans and trick effects (substitution splices and superimpositions). There's one cut-in medium close-up shot for Saint Veronica. There are even a few shots which come close to being reverse-angle takes (one when Pilate washes his hands, another leading up to crucifixion, and another for the cave in the resurrection scene). It's hardly enough to prevent this from being overly theatrical. A telling number is that there are only 28 shots in this 25-scene movie, so there's very little in the way of scene dissection, but Guy directed within those scenes well for some starkly lit, deep stagings, elaborate sets for the day, and naturalistic acting. Transitions aren't bad for then, either, between exteriors and interiors--even for supposed-outdoor scenes filmed inside a set.
As for the plot, there, of course, have to be selections and cuts made in the adaptation, to fit the biblical tale into 25 scenes. Here, Guy made some interesting decisions. As historian Richard Abel ("The Cine Goes to Town") has pointed out, Christ's miracles are whittled down to three here, and the chosen all involve women. Furthermore, women help Jesus with the cross when he stumbles, rather than Simon, and women also play an atypically prominent role in other scenes. It's interesting to see the passion play receive a woman's hand, for once, not only on screen via angels and devoted followers, but also behind the scenes.
Gaumont's "La vie du Christ" is especially interesting to compare to the available 1903 Pathé film. At about 33 minutes and 25 tableaux, this one isn't quite as long as Pathé's, which lasts over 40 minutes and 35 tableaux. The significant difference, however, is in their approaches to the subject, or style. The Pathé film was very much centered in the tradition of Georges Méliès and his féeries (fairy films), with its décor, fairy/angel characters, and an emphasis on the attraction of trick effects and color. Gaumont's film also includes such angels, but is more naturalistic (especially in set design), as well as biblical--being based on the watercolor, or gouache, illustrations of James Tissot's Bible, as opposed to the Francophone fairy tale rendered by Pathé. Both adopt the tableaux style, with title cards describing proceeding shot-scenes.
While Guy's version appears more distant--the long shots are from very far away in some scenes, these compositions tend to be elaborately layered and with our focus drawn to the central positioning of certain characters. Figures also variously enter and exit scenes horizontally and vertically, which somewhat alleviates the staginess. There is remarkable staging in depth in some scenes. Additionally, there are a few pans and trick effects (substitution splices and superimpositions). There's one cut-in medium close-up shot for Saint Veronica. There are even a few shots which come close to being reverse-angle takes (one when Pilate washes his hands, another leading up to crucifixion, and another for the cave in the resurrection scene). It's hardly enough to prevent this from being overly theatrical. A telling number is that there are only 28 shots in this 25-scene movie, so there's very little in the way of scene dissection, but Guy directed within those scenes well for some starkly lit, deep stagings, elaborate sets for the day, and naturalistic acting. Transitions aren't bad for then, either, between exteriors and interiors--even for supposed-outdoor scenes filmed inside a set.
As for the plot, there, of course, have to be selections and cuts made in the adaptation, to fit the biblical tale into 25 scenes. Here, Guy made some interesting decisions. As historian Richard Abel ("The Cine Goes to Town") has pointed out, Christ's miracles are whittled down to three here, and the chosen all involve women. Furthermore, women help Jesus with the cross when he stumbles, rather than Simon, and women also play an atypically prominent role in other scenes. It's interesting to see the passion play receive a woman's hand, for once, not only on screen via angels and devoted followers, but also behind the scenes.