Happy Easter! Films on the Passion of Christ, starting with the Annunciation and ending with the Resurrection, were extremely popular in the early years of cinema. No doubt the impetus was given by the already popular stage versions, in particular, the Oberammergau Passion Play, performed every decade at a small Bavarian town. Many cards were made for the Oberammergau Passion Play, already from the late 19th century onwards. This inspired first the Americans to create their own Passion Play films in the late 1890s. They were immediately followed by the French companies Lumière and Gaumont. While Gaumont shot another version in 1906, Pathé produced four versions in 1900, 1902-1903, 1907, and 1913.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: Joseph and Maria at Betlehem.
FFrench postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Sleep of Jesus.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Flight to Egypt.
Roberta Pearson writes in her entry on biblical films in the 'Encyclopaedia of Early Cinema' (2005) that the 1907 Pathé version "was probably seen by more people in North America and Europe (and more than once) than any other film of the period."
Pearson also stresses that these biblical films heavily relied upon "previous intertexts such as a long tradition of biblical illustration, including illustrated Bibles, stereoscope cards, magic lantern slide series, and illustrated lectures."
The Pathé 1907 version confirms this too, even if not as explicit as the later From the Manger to the Cross (Kalem, 1912), which faithfully copied the Bible illustrations made by James Tissot for his 1897-1897 French Bible.
Typical in the 1907 Pathé film is the tableau style in which every shot is preceded by an intertitle, which uses few words to indicate the scene and always in Pathé's patented red color (likewise, Gaumont used green for its intertitles).
While most shots use painted backdrops, still all kinds of sets, props, and people were used to create some deep staging, even if on a modest scale. Deepness could even be accentuated by diagonals of people simultaneously crossing the screen and approaching the camera, e.g. in the Adoration of the Magi.
Also, at times, inserts (cut-ins) were used to stress details, such as the Veil of Veronica or the Ecce Homo moment of the scourged, bound Jesus, crowned with thorns. Miraculous moments were created by classical theatrical effects but also by modern cinematic effects such as stop motion (e.g. the appearance of the angels) and double exposure (e.g. Jesus walking on the water).
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: At the Feet of the Sphinx.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Wedding at Cana. The actress on the right is Julienne Mathieu, a regular at Pathé in its early years. She plays the Holy Virgin Mary.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ, which might be La Vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ (Lucien Nonguet, Ferdinand Zecca, 1903). Caption: The Entrance to Jerusalem. This image deviates from the one in the existing prints of Vie et passion de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907).
When comparing the Pathé postcards with the film, some cards show a certain kind of compressed, simultaneously happening actions, which are spread out over time within the film.
A good example is the scene of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem. In the film, we first see a lively street with many extras. They disappear when the holy couple appears. In vain, Joseph and Mary ask for shelter to the innkeeper on the left, while later on the girl on the right directs them to an offscreen space on the right, clearly the stable. On the card, we see the innkeeper, the girl, the couple, and the extras altogether.
Discussed is who directed the film. It is clear that Ferdinand Zecca, who also co-directed with Lucien Nonguet the 1903 version, was the main director for the 1907 version as well.
There are suggestions the Spanish special effects 'wizard' Segundo De Chomon, who was probably responsible for all the trick photography in the film, may have been co-director as well for the film. Others contest this.
In any case, De Chomon's wife Julienne Mathieu clearly plays the Holy Virgin Mary, while it is unclear who played Jesus. The film was released in bright stencil coloring, announced as 'Pathé-Coloris', It increases the pictorial qualities of the images.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ which might be La Vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ (Lucien Nonguet, Ferdinand Zecca, 1903). Caption: Jesus chases the merchants from the Temple. This image deviates from the one in the existing prints of Vie et passion de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907).
French postcard. Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ aka Vie et passion de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Last Supper.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Flagellation.
When Kalem's From the Manger to the Cross was released in the Netherlands, Dutch film distributor Jean Desmet (re-)released the Pathé 1907 version with the title Van de Kribbe tot het Kruis, a Dutch translation of the Kalem title, angering Kalem and the local Dutch renter.
When under attack, Desmet coolly reposted he at least had the Passion "in colour" while Kalem's film was in black and white. Desmet was rather matter-of-fact. When a local exhibitor asked him if he had a description of the Pathé Passion film, he wrote back: "The film is self-explanatory and you probably have a Bible somewhere."
In his monograph on early French cinema, 'The Ciné Goes to Town' (1994), American film scholar Richard Abel stresses that even if the Gaumont 1906 version may differ from the Pathé 1907 version in a more female perspective (Gaumont director Alice Guy e.g. linked the character of Jesus closely to women surrounding him), both versions share that they were offered on the market "in a variety of lengths, including versions of multiple reels." Just like with earlier Passion Play movies, exhibitors were encouraged "to purchase and exhibit whatever combination of tableaux would best suit their programs."
While from the 1903 earlier version by Zecca only some five tableaux remain, several coloured prints of the 1907 version, remain, including the one in the Desmet Collection at EYE Filmmuseum. Not all are complete and not all have the garish stenciling.
It is moreover a pity that our postcards don't possess the same pictorial colouring. For other pre-1910 Pathé film, postcard sets have been made with multicolour images. We hope to complete this Passion postcard set in the future with pictures from other key moments in the film and in the Passion tale, such as the Annunciation and the Crucifixion.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: St. Veronica - The Holy Face.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Burial. On the right the actress Julienne Mathieu (Virgin Mary).
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Resurrection. For this version of the Passion, Segundo De Chomon did the special effects. His wife, Julienne Mathieu played the Virgin Mary. Unknown is who played Jesus.
Sources: Roberta Pearson in Richard Abel (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Early Cinema; Richard Abel, The Ciné Goes to Town: French Cinema, 1896-1914; and Ivo Blom, Jean Desmet and the Early Dutch Film Trade.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: Joseph and Maria at Betlehem.
FFrench postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Sleep of Jesus.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Flight to Egypt.
Miraculous moments created by classical theatrical effects
Roberta Pearson writes in her entry on biblical films in the 'Encyclopaedia of Early Cinema' (2005) that the 1907 Pathé version "was probably seen by more people in North America and Europe (and more than once) than any other film of the period."
Pearson also stresses that these biblical films heavily relied upon "previous intertexts such as a long tradition of biblical illustration, including illustrated Bibles, stereoscope cards, magic lantern slide series, and illustrated lectures."
The Pathé 1907 version confirms this too, even if not as explicit as the later From the Manger to the Cross (Kalem, 1912), which faithfully copied the Bible illustrations made by James Tissot for his 1897-1897 French Bible.
Typical in the 1907 Pathé film is the tableau style in which every shot is preceded by an intertitle, which uses few words to indicate the scene and always in Pathé's patented red color (likewise, Gaumont used green for its intertitles).
While most shots use painted backdrops, still all kinds of sets, props, and people were used to create some deep staging, even if on a modest scale. Deepness could even be accentuated by diagonals of people simultaneously crossing the screen and approaching the camera, e.g. in the Adoration of the Magi.
Also, at times, inserts (cut-ins) were used to stress details, such as the Veil of Veronica or the Ecce Homo moment of the scourged, bound Jesus, crowned with thorns. Miraculous moments were created by classical theatrical effects but also by modern cinematic effects such as stop motion (e.g. the appearance of the angels) and double exposure (e.g. Jesus walking on the water).
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: At the Feet of the Sphinx.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Wedding at Cana. The actress on the right is Julienne Mathieu, a regular at Pathé in its early years. She plays the Holy Virgin Mary.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ, which might be La Vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ (Lucien Nonguet, Ferdinand Zecca, 1903). Caption: The Entrance to Jerusalem. This image deviates from the one in the existing prints of Vie et passion de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907).
It is unclear who played Jesus
When comparing the Pathé postcards with the film, some cards show a certain kind of compressed, simultaneously happening actions, which are spread out over time within the film.
A good example is the scene of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem. In the film, we first see a lively street with many extras. They disappear when the holy couple appears. In vain, Joseph and Mary ask for shelter to the innkeeper on the left, while later on the girl on the right directs them to an offscreen space on the right, clearly the stable. On the card, we see the innkeeper, the girl, the couple, and the extras altogether.
Discussed is who directed the film. It is clear that Ferdinand Zecca, who also co-directed with Lucien Nonguet the 1903 version, was the main director for the 1907 version as well.
There are suggestions the Spanish special effects 'wizard' Segundo De Chomon, who was probably responsible for all the trick photography in the film, may have been co-director as well for the film. Others contest this.
In any case, De Chomon's wife Julienne Mathieu clearly plays the Holy Virgin Mary, while it is unclear who played Jesus. The film was released in bright stencil coloring, announced as 'Pathé-Coloris', It increases the pictorial qualities of the images.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ which might be La Vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ (Lucien Nonguet, Ferdinand Zecca, 1903). Caption: Jesus chases the merchants from the Temple. This image deviates from the one in the existing prints of Vie et passion de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907).
French postcard. Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ aka Vie et passion de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Last Supper.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Flagellation.
The Passion in colour
When Kalem's From the Manger to the Cross was released in the Netherlands, Dutch film distributor Jean Desmet (re-)released the Pathé 1907 version with the title Van de Kribbe tot het Kruis, a Dutch translation of the Kalem title, angering Kalem and the local Dutch renter.
When under attack, Desmet coolly reposted he at least had the Passion "in colour" while Kalem's film was in black and white. Desmet was rather matter-of-fact. When a local exhibitor asked him if he had a description of the Pathé Passion film, he wrote back: "The film is self-explanatory and you probably have a Bible somewhere."
In his monograph on early French cinema, 'The Ciné Goes to Town' (1994), American film scholar Richard Abel stresses that even if the Gaumont 1906 version may differ from the Pathé 1907 version in a more female perspective (Gaumont director Alice Guy e.g. linked the character of Jesus closely to women surrounding him), both versions share that they were offered on the market "in a variety of lengths, including versions of multiple reels." Just like with earlier Passion Play movies, exhibitors were encouraged "to purchase and exhibit whatever combination of tableaux would best suit their programs."
While from the 1903 earlier version by Zecca only some five tableaux remain, several coloured prints of the 1907 version, remain, including the one in the Desmet Collection at EYE Filmmuseum. Not all are complete and not all have the garish stenciling.
It is moreover a pity that our postcards don't possess the same pictorial colouring. For other pre-1910 Pathé film, postcard sets have been made with multicolour images. We hope to complete this Passion postcard set in the future with pictures from other key moments in the film and in the Passion tale, such as the Annunciation and the Crucifixion.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: St. Veronica - The Holy Face.
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Burial. On the right the actress Julienne Mathieu (Virgin Mary).
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Scene from the early Pathé film La vie du Christ/La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (Ferdinand Zecca, 1907). Caption: The Resurrection. For this version of the Passion, Segundo De Chomon did the special effects. His wife, Julienne Mathieu played the Virgin Mary. Unknown is who played Jesus.
Sources: Roberta Pearson in Richard Abel (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Early Cinema; Richard Abel, The Ciné Goes to Town: French Cinema, 1896-1914; and Ivo Blom, Jean Desmet and the Early Dutch Film Trade.
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