El Dorado (1921 film)
Encyclopedia
El Dorado is a French silent film
directed in 1921 by Marcel L'Herbier
. The film was notable for integrating a number of technical innovations into its narrative of a "cinematic melodrama". It achieved considerable success on its release, as a ground-breaking film that was distinctively French at a time when the cinema was felt to be dominated by American productions.
.
He submitted an original scenario for a melodrama called El Dorado, set in Andalusia, to his producer Léon Gaumont
, and rather to his surprise it was immediately accepted. L'Herbier was adamant that the film should carry the subtitle "mélodrame", both to indicate the popular origins of its story, but also to point to its more traditional sense of the combination of drama and music. He was less candid about his intentions for incorporating imaginative and unconventional visual effects into his familiar subject-matter.
An initial budget of 92,000 francs was allocated, but in the end the film cost nearly 400,000 francs.
as Sibilla
Jaque Catelain
as the young painter Hedwick
Marcelle Pradot
as Hedwick's lover Iliana
Philippe Hériat
as the lecherous clown Joao
Georges Paulais
as Estiria, the father of Sibilla's son
Claire Prélia as the Swedish mother of Hedwick
palace and L'Herbier gave prominent place to its gardens, fountains and geometric architectural patterns. These became some of the film's most memorable images. During the approach to Easter, he also seized the chance to film the spectacular Holy Week processions
which took place in Seville and to incorporate this documentary footage within the fiction of his story. The interiors were subsequently filmed at the Gaumont studios in Paris at Buttes-Chaumont.
With his principal cameraman Georges Lucas, L'Herbier created a number of optical effects during filming. When Sibilla is first introduced among the other dancers on stage, a partial blurring of the image places her out-of-focus while those around her are sharply defined, an effect repeated in her subsequent dance to suggest that she herself is not fully focussed on her surroundings because her mind is preoccupied with the plight of her son. Distortion of close-up images of customers in the cabaret reflect their intoxication and lust. A similar technique is used later to introduce a note of visual horror into the scene when Joao tries to rape Sibilla. A different use of optical distortion in the scenes of Hedwick at work in the Alhambra shows how the actual settings of his paintings are transformed in the painter's imagination. L'Herbier was at pains to draw a distinction between his approach and that used in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
(1919) in which visual distortions are incorporated into the design of the sets - which were then photographed normally. In El Dorado it is the camera itself which is used to shape the images seen by the viewer. These uses of semi-subjective camerawork have been one of the most discussed aspects of the film in subsequent criticism.
L'Herbier was an ardent advocate of colour tinting
of the finished photographic image, and he devised an elaborate scheme of colouring to enhance the effect of different scenes and shots, and sometimes to clarify the shift between the present and a past flashback. (A surviving print held by the Cinémathèque Française preserves these tinted effects.)
L'Herbier regarded the musical accompaniment of a film as being supremely important, and in El Dorado he sought to produce a closer integration between image and music than had been achieved before. He commissioned the young composer Marius-François Gaillard (who was only 21) to compose an orchestral score which was based upon the final cut of the film. This allowed the music to be precisely synchronised with the action of the film instead of the rather approximate playing of 'mood music' which was previously the usual practice. L'Herbier claimed that this was the first time that an exactly synchronised orchestral score had ever been written for a film, and it certainly seems to have been the first instance in Europe.
L'Herbier enjoyed complete artistic freedom during filming but his relations with his producer Léon Gaumont deteriorated as the schedule and the budget both exceeded expectations. Gaumont was not impressed by the 'artistic' visual devices of blurred and distorted images. When the film was first shown to him, he angrily interrupted the screening to demand that the projectionist should correct his equipment, and he was scarcely mollified when it was explained that these were a deliberate part of the director's vision.
gave the film perhaps its most succinct judgment: "Ça, c'est du cinéma!" ("That's cinema!")
There were a few dissenting voices including the poet and critic Ricciotto Canudo
, who felt that the film's pictorial effects were insufficiently grounded in the subject.
When the film was released to the public in October 1921 it enjoyed a broad success, even though some spectators were sufficiently impatient with the visual effects to make occasionally vocal protests.
The considerable reputation which the film won in the 1920s was largely confined to France at that time since it does not appear to have been distributed abroad.
Among those who subsequently felt the influence of El Dorado was Alain Resnais
who "sought to renew a certain style of silent cinema" when he was making L'Année dernière à Marienbad
.
, in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Cinémathèque Française, and the Cinémathèque Suisse. A DVD based on this restoration, accompanied by archival material, was released by Gaumont in 2002.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
directed in 1921 by Marcel L'Herbier
Marcel L'Herbier
Marcel L'Herbier, Légion d'honneur, was a French film-maker, who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued until the 1950s and he made more than 40 feature films in total...
. The film was notable for integrating a number of technical innovations into its narrative of a "cinematic melodrama". It achieved considerable success on its release, as a ground-breaking film that was distinctively French at a time when the cinema was felt to be dominated by American productions.
Background
In his previous five films Marcel L'Herbier had explored a variety of photographic and narrative techniques in the fast-developing medium of film, and in 1921 he wanted to draw them together in the context of a story which would have a broad appeal for the public. He was also eager to film in the landscapes of Spain which had long been an inspiration for him, especially as filtered through the writings of Maurice BarrèsMaurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès was a French novelist, journalist, and socialist politician and agitator known for his nationalist and antisemitic views....
.
He submitted an original scenario for a melodrama called El Dorado, set in Andalusia, to his producer Léon Gaumont
Léon Gaumont
Léon Gaumont was a French inventor, engineer, and industrialist who was a pioneer of the motion picture industry....
, and rather to his surprise it was immediately accepted. L'Herbier was adamant that the film should carry the subtitle "mélodrame", both to indicate the popular origins of its story, but also to point to its more traditional sense of the combination of drama and music. He was less candid about his intentions for incorporating imaginative and unconventional visual effects into his familiar subject-matter.
An initial budget of 92,000 francs was allocated, but in the end the film cost nearly 400,000 francs.
Synopsis
In Granada in Spain, Sibilla works as a dancer in a squalid cabaret called El Dorado, struggling to earn enough to care for her sick child. The boy's father Estoria, a prominent citizen, refuses them both help and recognition, fearful of jeopardising the engagement of his adult daughter Iliana to a wealthy nobleman. Iliana however slips away from her engagement party to meet her real lover Hedwick, a Swedish painter. Sibilla, in desperation after a further rejection by Estoria, sees an opportunity to blackmail him by locking the lovers overnight in their meeting-place in the Alhambra. When Hedwick learns the truth next day, he and Iliana decide to take refuge at his mother's remote house on the Sierra Nevada, and they propose to Sibilla that they should take her son (Iliana's half-brother) with them so that he can be properly cared for in a healthy climate. Sibilla reluctantly agrees, but she is distraught as she returns to her empty room at El Dorado where she even has to fight off Joao, the cabaret's clown, as he tries to rape her. Knowing that she will not see her son again, she performs a last dance on stage to rapturous applause before going backstage to stab herself.Cast
Ève FrancisÈve Francis
Ève Francis was an actress and film-maker. She was born in Belgium but spent most of her career in France. She became closely associated with the writer Paul Claudel, and she was married to the critic and film-maker Louis Delluc.-Career:Ève Francis was born Eva Louise François at...
as Sibilla
Jaque Catelain
Jaque Catelain
Jaque Catelain was a French actor who came to prominence in silent films of the 1920s, and who continued acting in films and on stage until the 1950s. He also wrote and directed two silent films himself, and he was a capable artist and musician. He had a close association with the director Marcel...
as the young painter Hedwick
Marcelle Pradot
Marcelle Pradot
Marcelle Pradot was a French actress who worked principally in silent films. She was born at Montmorency, Val-d'Oise, near Paris. At the age of 18 while she was taking classes in dancing and singing in Paris, she was asked by Marcel L'Herbier to appear in his film Le Bercail...
as Hedwick's lover Iliana
Philippe Hériat
Philippe Hériat
Philippe Hériat was a multi-talented French novelist, playwright and actor.-Biography:Born Raymond Gérard Payelle, he studied with film director René Clair and in 1920 made his debut in silent film...
as the lecherous clown Joao
Georges Paulais
Georges Paulais
Georges Paulais was a French film actor. He appeared in 145 films between 1910 and 1956.He was born in Guimps, Charente, France and died in Chabanais, Charente, France.-Selected filmography:...
as Estiria, the father of Sibilla's son
Claire Prélia as the Swedish mother of Hedwick
Production
A substantial part of the film was to be shot on location in Granada, Seville and the Sierra Nevada, and filming began in March 1921. For the first time ever, permission had been granted for a film company to shoot inside the AlhambraAlhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
palace and L'Herbier gave prominent place to its gardens, fountains and geometric architectural patterns. These became some of the film's most memorable images. During the approach to Easter, he also seized the chance to film the spectacular Holy Week processions
Holy Week in Seville
Holy Week in Seville is one of the most important traditional events of the city. It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter , and is one of the better known religious events within Spain...
which took place in Seville and to incorporate this documentary footage within the fiction of his story. The interiors were subsequently filmed at the Gaumont studios in Paris at Buttes-Chaumont.
With his principal cameraman Georges Lucas, L'Herbier created a number of optical effects during filming. When Sibilla is first introduced among the other dancers on stage, a partial blurring of the image places her out-of-focus while those around her are sharply defined, an effect repeated in her subsequent dance to suggest that she herself is not fully focussed on her surroundings because her mind is preoccupied with the plight of her son. Distortion of close-up images of customers in the cabaret reflect their intoxication and lust. A similar technique is used later to introduce a note of visual horror into the scene when Joao tries to rape Sibilla. A different use of optical distortion in the scenes of Hedwick at work in the Alhambra shows how the actual settings of his paintings are transformed in the painter's imagination. L'Herbier was at pains to draw a distinction between his approach and that used in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene from a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It is one of the most influential of German Expressionist films and is often considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era. This movie is cited as...
(1919) in which visual distortions are incorporated into the design of the sets - which were then photographed normally. In El Dorado it is the camera itself which is used to shape the images seen by the viewer. These uses of semi-subjective camerawork have been one of the most discussed aspects of the film in subsequent criticism.
L'Herbier was an ardent advocate of colour tinting
Film tinting
Film tinting is the process of adding color to black-and-white film, usually by means of soaking the film in dye and staining the film emulsion...
of the finished photographic image, and he devised an elaborate scheme of colouring to enhance the effect of different scenes and shots, and sometimes to clarify the shift between the present and a past flashback. (A surviving print held by the Cinémathèque Française preserves these tinted effects.)
L'Herbier regarded the musical accompaniment of a film as being supremely important, and in El Dorado he sought to produce a closer integration between image and music than had been achieved before. He commissioned the young composer Marius-François Gaillard (who was only 21) to compose an orchestral score which was based upon the final cut of the film. This allowed the music to be precisely synchronised with the action of the film instead of the rather approximate playing of 'mood music' which was previously the usual practice. L'Herbier claimed that this was the first time that an exactly synchronised orchestral score had ever been written for a film, and it certainly seems to have been the first instance in Europe.
L'Herbier enjoyed complete artistic freedom during filming but his relations with his producer Léon Gaumont deteriorated as the schedule and the budget both exceeded expectations. Gaumont was not impressed by the 'artistic' visual devices of blurred and distorted images. When the film was first shown to him, he angrily interrupted the screening to demand that the projectionist should correct his equipment, and he was scarcely mollified when it was explained that these were a deliberate part of the director's vision.
Reception
When the film was first shown to the press in July 1921, it met with widespread critical acclaim. The newspaper Bonsoir unprecedentedly devoted a whole page to its review in which three different critics were unanimous in their recognition of the film's historic importance. Another critic appreciated that the use of a melodramatic subject did not prevent the film from achieving "a magnificent poetry". There was particular praise for the performance of Éve Francis who achieves an intense tragic grandeur in the final scenes. The critic and film-maker Louis DellucLouis Delluc
Louis Delluc was a French film director, screen writer and film critic, many of whose late 1910s film writings for French newspapers were collected in the volume Cinema et cie...
gave the film perhaps its most succinct judgment: "Ça, c'est du cinéma!" ("That's cinema!")
There were a few dissenting voices including the poet and critic Ricciotto Canudo
Ricciotto Canudo
Ricciotto Canudo was an early Italian film theoretician who lived primarily in France. He saw cinema as "plastic art in motion". He gave cinema the label "the Seventh Art", which is still current in French....
, who felt that the film's pictorial effects were insufficiently grounded in the subject.
When the film was released to the public in October 1921 it enjoyed a broad success, even though some spectators were sufficiently impatient with the visual effects to make occasionally vocal protests.
The considerable reputation which the film won in the 1920s was largely confined to France at that time since it does not appear to have been distributed abroad.
Among those who subsequently felt the influence of El Dorado was Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
who "sought to renew a certain style of silent cinema" when he was making L'Année dernière à Marienbad
Last Year at Marienbad
L'Année dernière à Marienbad is a 1961 French film directed by Alain Resnais from a screenplay by Alain Robbe-Grillet....
.
Restoration
A restoration of El Dorado was carried out for Gaumont in 1995 by the Service des Archives du Film du CNCCentre National de la Cinématographie
Le Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée or CNC is a French agency of the Ministry of Culture, responsible for the production and promotion of cinematic and audiovisual arts in France, is a publicly owned establishment, with legal and financial autonomy.Created by law on 25 October 1946...
, in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Cinémathèque Française, and the Cinémathèque Suisse. A DVD based on this restoration, accompanied by archival material, was released by Gaumont in 2002.
Further reading
- Abel, Richard. French cinema: the first wave 1915-1929. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984) pp. 307–313.
- Fieschi, Jean-André. "Autour du cinématographe: entretien avec Marcel L'Herbier", in Cahiers du cinéma, n.202, juin-juillet 1968, pp. 26–43. [In French].
External links
- El Dorado at IMDb.