Friday, July 01, 2011

Film erotici delle origini dal Pathé / CNC-AFF

Racconti erotici Pathé 1899-1907 / Erotic Tales Pathé 1899-1907. Sala Officinema / Mastroianni (Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato), 1 July 2011. Earphone commentary in Italian and English. Grand piano: Günter Buchwald.

Catalogue: "Nine erotic shorts by Pathé recently restored by the CNC – Centre National de la Cinématographie. They narrate anecdotes of petit bourgeois desires in which the star is the female figure, spied or secretly lusted after, or minor attempts at transgression or cheating that end humorously."

FLAGRANT DÉLIT D’ADULTÈRE. FR 1899. P: Pathé Frères. 35 mm. 1’ a 16 fps. B&w. From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "A young wife having an affair with another man hides just in the nick of time and is not caught in flagrante delicto. The policeman accompanying her cuckolded husband, however, is not entirely convinced."

FLIRT EN CHEMIN DE FER. FR 1902. P: Pathé Frères. 35 mm. 1’ a 16 fps. B&w. From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "A couple on a train is totally uninterested in the landscape and places that pass by as they engage in carnal pleasures. They use the darkness for bold explosions of affection, but the train conductor interrupts their fun."

LE CIREUR. FR 1902. P: Pathé Frères 35 mm. 1’ a 16 fps. B&w. From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "A shoeshiner is a little to lubricious for one of his customers whose skirt he gradually lifts higher and higher. His indiscreet peeping ends up irritating the woman who gives him a kick in the face."

BAIGNADE INTERDITE. FR 1903. P: Pathé Frères. 35 mm. 1’ a 16 fps. B&w. From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "Three girls play about in the water of a pond. A policeman orders them out of the water, pointing out that swimming is not allowed. The mortified girls get out of the water while the policeman uses their embarrassment to get an eyeful."

LE VIEUX MARCHEUR. FR 1903. P: Pathé Frères. 35 mm. 1’ a 16 fps. B&w. From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "An old man keeps his eye on his maid, undresses her and drags her to his bedroom."

LE BAIN DES DAMES DE LA COUR. FR 1904. P: Pathé Frères. 35 mm. 1’ a 16 fps. B&w. From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "Young nude women go for a swim in the fountain of a building."

MONDAINE AU BAIN. FR 1904. P: Pathé Frères 35mm. 2’ a 16 fps. B&w From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "While a sophisticated woman goes for a swim, a suitor of hers arrives with a bouquet of flowers. The maid asks the visitor to wait, but instead he stands on a chair to spy on what is on the other side of the screen."

LA PUCE. FR 1907. P: Pathé Frères. 35 mm. 2’ a 16 fps. B&w. From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "A young woman is pestered by a fleas and partially undresses herself to find and kill the pesky bug."

LE COUCHER DE LA MARIÉE. FR 1907. P: Pathé Frères. 35 mm. 4’ a 18 fps. B&w. From: CNC – Archives Françaises du Film. "Alone in a room with her groom, a woman undresses slowly as her moved husband watches her."

AA: There is nothing to add to the descriptions above except that the films are so restrained and innocent that they could be shown on television during children's watching hours. The term "nude" above usually means "only partly dressed". This show was the most popular of all of the ones held at Sala Officinema / Mastroianni during Il Cinema Ritrovato 2011. There was standing room only.

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