Le sculpteur express (1907) Online

Segundo de Chomón used lots and lots of camera tricks in his films--many of which he learned by watching the films of the great French film director, Georges Méliès. However, here in "The Express Sculptor" these techniques are used sparingly and the film is much less tricky than usual.

The film consists of an unnamed sculptor making faces out of clay. Along with his assistant (Julienne Mathieu, the director's wife), the pair make one face after another out of clay very, very rapidly and very well. The faces are more like clever caricatures and it actually is surprisingly enjoyable watching the art being created. The only way the director tricked the viewer is sometimes you could barely notice that he occasionally stopped the film to make it easier to make the art appear to be done quicker. Effective and fun.

Well, here I am again, reviewing another unpopular effort by the forgotten director Segundo de Chomon. I really don't know why he isn't as well-known as Georges Melies because a lot of the time Chomon's efforts are stencil-colored beautifully, and sometimes feature some great stop-motion. Anyway, this film is not really that gimmicky like the director's other work but it is still fun to watch. It's a documentary of a professional sculptor and his assistant making clay faces. The faces are really realistic and are also sometimes comedic. Once the sculptor finishes one masterpiece he also sometimes punches it in very quickly which adds an element of comedy to the film. I don't think I'd label it as a trick film, despite the camera trick they used at the beginning, but it's more a staged documentary of a sculptor's work for camera. Enjoyable.