Alcohol And Its Victims (1902) Directed By Ferdinand Zecca

About this film

Alcohol and Its Victims (1902) 'Les victimes de l'alcoolisme' Director: Ferdinand Zecca Les victimes de l'alcoolisme (English: Alcohol and its victims) is a 1902 French short drama film directed by Ferdinand Zecca, inspired by the 1877 naturalist novel L'Assommoir by Emile Zola. It is the first film inspired by this novel and one of first films aimed at fulfilling an objective of general social interest, in this case the fight against alcoholism. Analysis: The five scenes are each composed of one single wide shot taken by a static camera in front of theatre-like sets. The intertitles introducing each of the scene use black letters on a light background. There is a jump cut in scene 4, the man appearing suddenly wiggling on the floor. This may be due to a lost fragment. This is the first film by Pathé Frères including intertitles and one of the first in the world. Les victimes de l'alcoolisme is the first known cinematic adaptation of a novel by Emile Zola. The book on which it is based, L'Assommoir, would be the subject of a further three French cinematographic adaptations before the outbreak of World War I, L'Assommoir in 1909, Les Victimes de l'alcool (English: In the Grip of Alc…

Directors & creators

Ferdinand Zecca

Subjects

Ferdinand Zecca, 1902

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