Entr'acte
About Entr'acte
René Clair's short opens on a Paris roof, where a cannon rolls by stop-motion and Francis Picabia and Erik Satie load it. The shot fired at the lens leads into dolls with balloon heads, boxing gloves over a city square, and a dancer, Inger Frïis, filmed from below through glass and later shown with a beard and pince-nez. Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray play chess on a roof until a jet of water knocks them away. A hunter, Jean Börlin, fires at an egg, a pigeon flies out and lands on his hat, and Picabia shoots him off the roof. Mourners follow a hearse pulled by a camel. The hearse breaks free, the chase cuts in a bicycle race and a roller coaster, and the coffin spills in a field. Börlin rises from it dressed as a magician and makes the crowd, the coffin, and himself vanish. A man bursts through the end title and is kicked back through it.
Cast & crew
More about Entr'acte
Francis Picabia wrote the scenario. René Clair directed. Rolf de Maré produced it for the Ballets Suédois. It premiered on 4 December 1924 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris as a prologue and an entr'acte for the ballet Relâche, which Picabia designed and Jean Börlin choreographed. Société Nouvelle des Acacias distributed the film. Jimmy Berliet photographed it. Erik Satie wrote the music. Roger Désormière conducted the premiere.
Themes
Background
Relâche was the last production of the Ballets Suédois. The film was made to be seen in the interval, not as a separate commercial feature.
Making
Picabia, Satie, Duchamp, Man Ray, and Börlin are all in the picture they helped make. The chess game is on a real Paris roof. The hearse is pulled by a dromedary.
Look
Jimmy Berliet shot it. The short uses stop-motion on the cannon, slow motion and reverse action on the cannon crew and the funeral chase, multiple exposure, and a camera placed under a glass floor for the dancer.
Music
Erik Satie wrote the score. Roger Désormière conducted it at the 4 December 1924 premiere. The Criterion DVD uses a 1967 recording of that music.
Preservation
The Criterion DVD of À nous la liberté uses a 35mm restoration by the Cinémathèque française and Films Pathé. Silent Era describes that transfer as windowboxed, with some dust and speckling left in.
Notes
- The title means between the acts. Relâche means a cancelled performance, or a day off.
- The prologue runs about 90 seconds. The entr'acte proper runs about 18 minutes 40 seconds.
- Satie's prologue piece is called Projectionnette. The longer score is titled Cinéma and uses repeat bars so the players can stay with the picture.
- Georges Auric and René Clair appear in cameos. Börlin was artistic director of the Ballets Suédois as well as the hunter.
- The Criterion Collection DVD of Clair's À nous la liberté (spine 160, 2002) includes Entr'acte, taken from a restoration by the Cinémathèque française and Films Pathé, with a 1967 recording of Satie's score.
- The film was shown again at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974.
Scenes
- Picabia and Satie load a cannon on a roof and fire it toward the lens.
- Duchamp and Man Ray play chess until water blasts them off the roof.
- Börlin shoots an egg, a pigeon lands on his hat, and Picabia shoots him off the building.
- Mourners chase a camel-drawn hearse that breaks free and races into open country.
- A man sticks his head through the Fin card and a foot kicks him back through it.
Also available
- Internet Archive (ArteReneClairwFrancisPicabiaErikSatieEntracte1924)
- Criterion Collection DVD of À nous la liberté (2002)
