Lumière

A libidinous construction worker uses his charm and bravado in an attempt to attain enough finances to build his dream project.

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Alberto Santos Dumont flies one of his dirigibles.

Set in France at the end of World War II Albert Dehousse finds out his father wasn't a war hero and his mother is a collaborator.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II ride past on horseback before the cheering crowd.

The German infantry parades in front of Nicholas II and Wilhelm II.

A quarrel between two women that a man attempts to separate.

A boy steps on the hose a gardener is using to water his garden. The gardener, surprised to see the jet stop, examines the nozzle; at that moment the boy lifts his foot; the jet starts up again and the gardener gets water in the face; furious, he runs after the boy and gives him a beating.

“The workers leave the Lumière factory.” Workers pass through the gate of the Lumière factory and are followed by a carriage drawn by two horses.

In very bad weather and a stormy sea, a small boat manned by two men is trying to leave the harbor of La Ciotat, while several people are watching them from the nearby pier.

Reception of His Majesty the Emperor of Germany in Frankfurt am Main.

Traffic of pedestrians, trams, horse-drawn carriages and carts at the intersection of two streets.

Pedestrian and various vehicle traffic along this square.

Vehicles are moving in the street. A crowd is gathered in front of the entrance to the Lumière cinematograph.

A crowd leaves the cinema and disperses into the street while cabs circulate or park.

Porters bring goods into a warehouse.

While his aide continuously turns the handle of the bellows, keeping hot a small furnace in front of him, a blacksmith is pounding a piece of metal on an anvil, then plunges the shaft into a tub of water, causing a cloud of vapor in the process.

A parade of horse-drawn carriages escorted by riders and a crowd of journalists.

One of Alberto Santos Dumont's dirigibles is led out of a hangar.

A series of seemingly unconnected events and 50 important speaking parts make this film a jigsaw puzzle to be solved by the viewer. Martin and Claire were separated in childhood, and are brought together by a series of coincidences. A tragic car crash is central to the story, but seemingly unimportant events can hold great significance. Through a montage of different film stock and techniques director Diane Bertrand creates pieces of a puzzle, from which the viewer has to piece together a story. That's the premise of the film, and it is solvable. You just have to work a bit...