Trucs, monstres et fesses: le cinéma au temps des cabarets

Cabaret and screenings

Let’s go back to the early 20th century with the Cinémathèque québécoise, when movies were still largely a curiosity of funfairs, cabarets and music halls. Actors, musicians, and circus performers follow one another in front of the screen to tame a dinosaur, recount the horrible drama of Doctor Jekyll or titillate an excited audience with some ribald skit. Segundo de Chomon’s tricks, Winsor McCay’s superb drawings and kinky stagings by anonymous artists (with revealing phallic obsessions) are at the heart of this joyous debauchery of images, sounds and performance. French people say that cinema is the 7th art because it encompasses all the others. This has never been so true!