The Fantastic Iris
About The Fantastic Iris
France Mathieu draws back a pair of velvet curtains. Behind them a waterfall and oversized flowers fill the stage. She vanishes and comes back posed among the blooms, one floral arrangement after another.
Cast & crew
More about The Fantastic Iris
Segundo de Chomón directed and wrote this Pathé short. The French release date is July 23, 1912. Trade listings give four minutes; the Internet Archive file LirisFantastique runs 3 minutes 48 seconds.
Themes
Making
A Davinotti comment describes Mathieu as the figure who opens the curtain and then reappears inside the flower displays.
Look
FilmAffinity credits Segundo de Chomón as photographer. The set is one curtained stage, with the waterfall and giant flowers behind Mathieu.
Technique
Mathieu is taken out of the curtain opening and set back among the flowers in successive poses.
Preservation
A 3-minute-48-second copy from the Internet Archive item LirisFantastique is also on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The Spanish title is El iris fantástico.
- FilmAffinity calls it a Spain-France Pathé picture and credits Chomón with the photography. Wikidata lists the country as France.
- The Viennale program Segundo de Chomón: From Pathé Frères to Ibérico included it, with an introduction by Rosa Cardona Arnau of the Filmoteca de Catalunya.
- France Mathieu has no other credit on the usual databases.
Scenes
- Mathieu parts the velvet curtains onto the waterfall and the giant flowers.
- She reappears set into a bank of blooms.
Influenced by
- Georges Méliès's curtain féeries
Also available
- Internet Archive (LirisFantastique)
