L'Arlésienne (1908)

Anecdotes

L'Arlésienne (English: The Girl from Arles) is a 1908 French drama film directed by Albert Capellani, based on Alphonse Daudet's eponymous play. It is the first film produced by the Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres (SCAGL) [fr] (English: Cinematographic Society of Authors and Writers) created at the beginning of the same year to produce cinematographic adaptations of literary classics.

Production

The SCAGL was created at the initiative of Charles Pathé, the founder of the production company Pathé Frères in order to give a new dimension to cinema as the public was beginning to get tired of simplistic comic or melodramatic films.

Albert Capellani was appointed Artistic Director of the SCAGL and in charge of directing L'Arlésienne, the first film to be produced by the new company. The film was almost entirely shot on location in Arles and shows the old streets, the Roman Amphitheatre and the olive groves. It was longer than usual for the time with a length of 355 meter, giving a projection time of about 18 minutes at 18 fps.

The film is composed of 43 shots, showing 27 different points of views, and 10 intertitles which do not replace dialogs but rather introduce the various scenes. Apart from two camera pannings, all the shots are fixed wide shots.

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