Directed by: Albert Kirchner
Whenever a new form of media is introduced, someone will inevitably think of ways to use it for smut. And so, this film from 1896 is largely considered the first erotic film.
It stars Louise Willy, upon whose burlesque act it is based on. We see the groom wait and grow impatient as the bride removes layer after layer of clothing behind a screen. The way the shot is set up emphasizes her role and places the groom to the side, almost like a footnote whose reactions are comedic but also reflect the audience’s increasing excitement. He passes the time by reading the newspaper, then begins to peek over the dressing screen. The bride continues to undress, occasionally caressing herself as she glances at the camera. The groom grows increasingly restless– and then the film abruptly ends, the remaining minutes left to our imagination. It is thought to have been 7 minutes long, though only less than 2 minutes survive (possibly because police raids in venues that showed “risqué” and “stag” films resulted in footage being destroyed).
There is an element of playfulness throughout and a sense of anticipation heightened by the bride purposely removing articles of clothing slowly. The striptease is performed with awareness of an audience, effectively breaking the fourth wall.
More hardcore films would be produced over the years – often cited early examples include A L’Ecu d’Or ou la Bonne Auberge / At the Golden Shield or the Good Inn (1908) and El Satario / The Satyr, which has been dated as early as 1907 and late as 1930 (produced either in Argentina or Cuba). While pornography seems trivial in the history of film, it was a deciding factor in VHS winning over Betamax and Blu-ray over HDDVD!
Bibliography
Bradford, I. (2016). ‘Friday Video: “Bedtime for the Bride”, 1896’, Two Nerdy History Girls, 1 April. Available at: http://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.com.ee/2016/04/friday-video-bedtime-for-bride-1896.html [Accessed: 28 December 2021].
Dirks, T. (n.d.). ‘History of Sex in Cinema: The Greatest and Most Influential Sexual Films and Scenes’, filmsite. Available at: http://www.filmsite.org/sexinfilms1.html [Accessed: 28 December 2021].
Geltzer, J. (2015). Dirty Words and Filthy Pictures: Film and the First Amendment. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Glass, J. (2014). ‘8 Ways Porn Influenced Technology’, thrillist, 14 February. Available at: https://www.thrillist.com/vice/how-porn-influenced-technology-8-ways-porn-influenced-tech-supercompressor-com [Accessed: 28 December 2021].
IMDb contributors (n.d.). ‘Coucher de la mariée (1896)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1728115/ [Accessed: 28 December 2021].
Wikipedia contributors (2021). ‘El Satario’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 August. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Satario [Accessed: 28 December 2021].
Reel Lessons 