Skunkyrate
Gripping story with well-crafted characters
MamaGravity
good back-story, and good acting
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Horst in Translation ([email protected])
This 20-minute black-and-white film from over 90 years ago is a perfect example of what experimentalism is about. It does not make sense, there is no real story and all the character's actions are unrealistic. Now, if I would like this type of film, I certainly would have enjoyed it, but unfortunately this is not my cup of tea. Some moments are entertaining admittedly, but as a whole I was not impressed at all. This French film is certainly among the most known short films from the 1920s that do not include one of the masters of silent film in their cast, such as Keaton, Lloyd, Chaplin etc. It was the first and maybe most famous film by writer and director René Clair, in his 20s here, who had a long career afterward and made movies until the 1960s. Also his first performance here gives Man Ray who is probably a name to most people with a deeper interest in early experimental movies. I am not one of these, therefore I was not wowed and cannot recommend "Entr'acte".
mrdonleone
I just saw Entr'acte another time and I kept asking myself what was the meaning of this picture? I couldn't find any meaning in it: men running in slow motion, a roller-coaster ride, a lot of unclear images with movement, ... so maybe it is about movement? maybe there isn't any meaning at all, with the only meaning that life goes slow fast and normal at the same time, it depends on how you look at things. and how you look at things, is influenced by the feeling that you have on that particular moment. so maybe, if there is any meaning in the film, it's the message that we experience life as we want it to be. if we have fun, it goes fast. if we are bored, it goes slow. if we don't care, it goes on at a normal tempo.
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre
Rene Clair and the Marx Brothers once decided to make a movie together: it's a shame that it never happened. Maybe that movie exists in some alternate universe, and I'll bet it's hilarious. I enjoyed "Entr'acte", but I'd gladly trade this film for a chance to see Rene Clair's Marx Brothers movie.Another IMDb reviewer has synopsised the plot, such as it is: a man apparently dies. After his funeral, his coffin escapes from its hearse, and then the man returns to life. The title "Entr'acte" (an interval between theatrical acts, or an intermission) is never explained; maybe it refers to the interval between that man's two lives. I prefer to think that Clair meant this somewhat amateurish film as a mere intermission: an amusing bit of fun between the acts of his 'real' films; the ones with coherent story lines.Some of the content in this film truly does seem to be unintentional. After the central character's funeral, there's a stiff wind blowing outside the chapel. The women in this movie wear elaborate long dresses, and the wind animates their clothing in a way that's distracting rather than funny, and surely not meant to be symbolic.Much of the imagery in this movie seems to be pure Dada rather than signifying anything. The man's funeral cortege is led by a camel. If there's any underlying significance there, I doubt that it amounts to much. Earlier on, I was intrigued by one sequence featuring Parisian chess players. While the camera focuses on the chessboard, a shot of Parisian traffic is superimposed: suggesting that all humanity are pawns in some cosmic chess game.Don't look for too much meaning in "Entr'acte". It's an amusing experiment, but might have been more effective at a shorter length.
Fredalba Road
This short, which is appended to Criterion's DVD release of A Nous la Liberte, is hardly the shining example of surrealist film that its proponents would have you believe. Ultimately, it is by turns overly indulgent and downright boring. Lacking the artistry of L'Age d'Or, the suspense and intrigue of La Jetee or Meshes of the Afternoon, and the joy and spontaneity of Running, Jumping and Standing Still, Entr'acte simply never takes off. Even as a curiosity, it's not all that interesting...
