Year: 1897
Director: Georges Melies
Country: France
Language: N/A
After studying the design of the Animatograph, Georges Melies modified the machine so that it would serve as a film camera. Due to the lack of availability of film in France, Méliès purchased unperforated film in London and developed it himself through trial and error. In September 1896 he would go on to patent the modified machine, but by 1897 better cameras were put on sale by Gaumaunt, The Lumieres, and Pathe. He used that camera in The Last Cartridges.
The film shows an incident from the Franco-Prussian War. More specifically we see the bombardment of a house at Bazeille.
Based on an 1873 painting of the same name by Alphonse de Neuville, The Last Cartridges could very well be the first "war" film, depending on your definition of what a "war" film is of course. It is also the first film adapted from a painting. .
The Franco-Prussian war was an embarrassing lost for the French. They suffered 7x more casualties than the Germans and suffered a surprisingly quick defeat. The outcome was that France had to pay a war debt up to 5 Billion Francs ($1000 Million USD, which adjusted for inflation is roughly $342 BILLION today). They were given a limited timeline and the Germans would occupy them until the money was paid. Considering this, one has to wonder what Melies was thinking at the time, and how this film could have possibly been popular in Paris in 1897. Why didn't this film cause riots in the streets!?
It must have been a success (for some reason) because Gaumaunt would produce many imitations in the years following this. There's no much of a story, but I must admit that it is pretty entertaining. The set is well built and the actors demonstrate great ability despite having limited actions in this extremely short film. History depicting history is always fun to witness.
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