44 secs. and 47 secs., b&w, silent
Production : Lumière, catalogue nos. 1275 (741) and 1276 (742). These were only 2 out of a total of 13 films shot by the operator François-Constant Girel between January and December 1897. Further details of the others are given here.
Source : CNC at the BnF. The first of the two films may be viewed here
These two films were shot near Muroran, on the island of Yeso (today Hokkaidô) in northern Japan in October 1897. The first film shows a men’s dance, and the second, a woman’s dance.
In the first film, four bearded men, of various ages (one wearing glasses), in long cloaks, with swords at their waist, dance in circle, in what is more of a step than a dance, clapping as they do so. Shot from a single static camera position in front of dancers, at a distance of about 3 metres. Children watch from behind. It ends in midshot.
The second film concerns a women’s dance. It is set in the same location as the men’s dance but it is shot from a slightly different angle. The women wear much less elaborate cloaks than the men, and scarfs around their heads. They bend over clapping, first towards camera, then away from it. Men walk through shot in foreground. Children, women, men watch from behind.
Text: Aubert and Seguin 1996, p.353.
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