Néron essayant des poisons sur des esclaves

1896 DramaHistory 50 seconds Directed by Alexandre Promio

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About Néron essayant des poisons sur des esclaves

Nero sits on a throne. Slaves are brought in and made to drink poison. They fall and die at his feet. He watches them suffer. The second drinks even with the first body still on the floor.

Cast & crew

More about Néron essayant des poisons sur des esclaves

Georges Hatot directed. Alexandre Promio was the cameraman. Auguste and Louis Lumière produced. Marcel Jambon designed the set. Catalogue Lumière lists it as view number 747, filmed in Paris, and dates the shooting to September 1897. It was deposited at the Lyon conseil de prud'hommes on 27 November 1897 and programmed in Lyon on 2 January 1898. The view runs about 50 seconds.

Themes

Making

Hatot staged the poisoning on a painted throne-room set by Jambon. Promio cranked one shot of about 50 seconds.

Look

Alexandre Promio photographed Hatot's single setup: the throne, the cup, and the bodies at Nero's feet.

Preservation

The Catalogue Lumière records the negative and four prints. A viewing copy of about 50 seconds survives.

Notes

  • The Catalogue Lumière synopsis says Nero takes a cruel pleasure in the suffering of the men who die at his feet.
  • Claude Aziza links the scene to Alexandre Cabanel's 1887 painting Cléopâtre essayant des poisons sur des condamnés à mort.
  • French reference books call it the first péplum.
  • The negative and four Lumière prints are recorded in the catalogue.
  • A copy is on Wikimedia Commons under a Georges Hatot filename.

Scenes

  • The first slave drinks and drops at the throne.
  • The second drinks with that body still in sight and dies beside it.

Influenced by

  • Cléopâtre essayant des poisons sur des condamnés à mort by Alexandre Cabanel (1887)

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