Gaumont Treasures, Vol. 2: 1908-1916

A fitting follow-up to the first volume (VL-1/10), this three-disc set of pioneering French films traces the glorious evolution of filmmaking as an art form in its early stages. Still going strong as the oldest continuously operating film company in history, Gaumont was a breeding ground for experimentation as movies began to mature. The first disc compiles 40-plus shorts created over two prolific years (1908–10) by Emile Cohl, a pioneer of pen-and-ink animation with a penchant for expanding the medium's possibilities—using pixilation, double-exposure, and the blending of live-action with animation (inspiring American animators including Winsor McCay and Walt Disney). Cohl was also an iconoclast; many of his films display an endearing irreverence stemming from his membership in the Incoherents, a group of 19th-century, pre-Surrealist art rebels who enjoyed skewering upper-crust pomp. The second disc features two dozen films made in 1911–13 by Jean Durand, Gaumont's resident specialist in broad comedy, adventures, and fast-moving westerns with a distinctly American flavor. Like Mack Sennett in the United States, Durand employed a stable of agile, acrobatic actors to serve up comic mayhem on a grand scale. The final disc spotlights early works by director Jacques Feyder (who honed his skills at Gaumont at the start of his decades-long career), along with samples of slapstick, realism, and technological innovation by other Gaumont pioneers. What comes through quite clearly here is how the French were borrowing from Americans and vice versa, in a constant process of cross-pollination and creative one-upmanship. DVD extras include a documentary about Durand, early sound film experiments called “Phonoscenes,” rare behind-the-scenes clips of Gaumont Studios, and excerpts of films from 1913–19 shot in Gaumont's full-color “Trichromie” film process. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (J. Shannon)