Lumière & Company

A host of directors shoot with Lumière's camera

Intriguing experiments, all interesting to watch. Some embrace the original Lumiere style, with a focus on capturing a snapshot of life or comedy endearing in its mundanity, like someone pranking a friend with a crocodile. Lee's was especially sweet. Others push against the format, like Lynch's, who uses the reels of the camera and the their saturation to highlight illusionary surreality, the white wispiness akin to everything going up in smoke, or like a dream you can only barely remember. And there's some gripping imagery, like the one with the dead dog. Limitation did not quite breed innovation, but it did engender some experimentation.