Directed by: Auguste Lumière, Louis Lumière
Two versions of the film exist, both marked as Lumiere #653. They are differentiated by two distinguishing features: in one, a man disembarks the train, takes a couple of steps towards the camera, seems to notice it and then walks backwards until he is outside of the frame; in the other, two women holding hands with little girls run alongside the train. The placement of the camera remains the same, with the main emphasis on the train. The angle chosen produces a dramatic effect as the train gradually increases in size and finally moves past the audience’s imagined left. It is possible the camera was intentionally left on after the train had stopped to provide sufficient time for relief after the climactic arrival.
A popular cinema legend claims that during screenings of the film, some audience members panicked and ran from their seats believing they were about to be run over by the approaching train. There are no confirmed reports of this and the story is most likely a publicity stunt or an exaggerated description of emotions taken literally. Regardless, it illustrates a very real concept regarding the medium’s ability to elicit an emotional response from audiences, despite being illusory or even presenting outright fiction. We laugh, we cry, and we get frightened by make-believe due to our immersion in stories and suspension of disbelief.
Bibliography
Grundhauser, E. (2016). ‘Did a Silent Film About a Train Really Cause Audiences to Stampede?’, Atlas Obscura, 3 November. Available at: http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/did-a-silent-film-about-a-train-really-cause-audiences-to-stampede [Accessed: 18 December 2021].
IMDb contributors (n.d.). ‘The Arrival of a Train (1896)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000012/ [Accessed: 18 December 2021].
Vorontzov, D. (2011). ‘L’arrivée d’un train en gare de la Ciotat, 1895’. Cinemaven, 16 March. Available at: http://cinemaven.org/larrivee-dun-train-en-gare-de-la-ciotat/ [Accessed: 22 September 2017].
Reel Lessons 