Attack on a China Mission

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Attack on a China Mission
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1900
length 4 to 5 minutes
Rod
Director James Williamson
script James Williamson
production James Williamson
camera James Williamson
occupation
  • Mr. James (= James Williamson?): The English cavalry officer
  • Mr. Lepard: the missionary
  • Florence Williamson : his daughter

Attack on a China Mission is a short British silent film from 1900 directed by James Williamson . It was a direct response to what happened during the Boxer Rebellion in China. The film is considered to be the forefather of the motion-intensive action, adventure and wild west films.

action

China in 1900. The European-American colonial rulers are attacked by Chinese insurgents, the so-called boxers. In the only four minutes of the plot, some boxers appear at the gates of a western mission station. They break open the gate and advance into the area. There is fighting between the intruders and the mission defenders. The missionary is killed in the fighting, a woman on the balcony waves for help with a white handkerchief. This sign is spotted by British sailors who then dash towards the mission under the guidance of an attractive cavalry officer. The area is reached when the boxers set fire to the mission building and usurp the daughter of the dead missionary. The British officer snatches the daughter away from the Chinese, pulls her up on his horse and rushes away with her, to safety. Meanwhile the English sailors rush forward, impale some Chinese and clear the battlefield. The missionary wife is rescued by three acrobatic men from the conflagration that has struck the building.

Production notes

Attack on a China Mission premiered on November 17, 1900 at Hove City Hall. It is not known whether there was also a German performance.

The main characters are believed to have come from the Williamson family.

reception

Reclam's film guide wrote of Attack on a Chinese Mission : “Its importance [the film] comes from the fact that it shows approaches to a genuinely cinematic narrative. The action still takes place in the long shot; but the four scenes are cleverly connected to one another, and there is already a cinematic change in the narrative perspective. "

Sadoul's History of Cinematic Art stated: “If you look closely, this strip is no longer a“ reconstructed actuality ”. Williamson was inspired by contemporary events, but extremely freely. (…) This style, which is point for point opposite to that of Méliès , opened the way for the great adventure films, especially the Wild West films. (...) Attack on a China Mission becomes the forerunner of a Tom Mix with his splendid rides and Griffith's masterpieces , including intolerance ”.

In Jerzy Toeplitz 1895–1928 “History of Film” you can read: “Williamson… used reporting technology in the attack on a China mission , but did not divide the narrative (based on the model of Méliès) into individual images that were in their Reminiscent of the composition of theater scenes. (…) The camera left the scene before the plot was finished there and recorded again at another location. The change in attitude conveyed a completely new sense of space and time. The assembly functioned as the connecting link. (...). The change of plot from one place to another, the exterior shots, the lively pace of the actions, the movement of people towards and away from the device - all these are characteristic features of the film Attack on a Mission to China - the prototype of many sensational films ”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reclams Filmführer, by Dieter Krusche, collaboration: Jürgen Labenski. P. 32. Stuttgart 1973.
  2. ↑ Georges Sadoul : History of Film Art, Vienna 1957, SS 46 f.
  3. ↑ Jerzy Toeplitz: History of the film, Volume 1 1895-1928. East Berlin 1972. p. 30.

Web links