FM-G051-1913

Gaumont Treasures 1897-1913 Disc 3

Video

DVD

F&MS

No

Available

Until now, the films of Léonce Perret have been virtually unseen in the United States, yet he was a hugely influential figure in the growth of the French film industry. As an actor, he appeared in more than 100 films from 1909 to 1916, including the long-running series of "Léonce" comedies. But his greater contribution was as a director. Working at Gaumont under the supervision of Louis Feuillade, Perret set the standard to which other French filmmakers aspired. His films had a technical mastery and aesthetic grace that allowed them to reveal subtleties of character and meaning. Perret's artistic maturity is beautifully represented in the influential feature "The Child of Paris," a naturalistic drama reminiscent of Émile Zola. Of this film, critic Georges Sadoul proclaimed, "Léonce Perret was able to render a graceful and lively story by using an extraordinarily refined cinematic repertoire: backlighting, low-angle shots, close-ups, moving shots and numerous other innovations, all of which Perret implemented with flair, in stark contrast to... the still somewhat primitive technique of David W. Griffith at that time." Perret made a number of self-referential films, in which the medium of the camera is a component of the plotline. In "The Mystery of the Rocks of Kador," an amnesiac woman undergoes a sort of cinematic hypnosis as a means of recalling the details of a tragic crime. Includes: The Mystery of the Rocks of Kador (1912, 43 min) The Child of Paris (1913, 124 min.) Special Feature: Léonce Perret: The Filmmaker's Filmmaker