As others have noted, what convincingly appears to be a spontaneous snowball fight involving men, women and children from all classes is in all probability a staged event (the likelihood of a wandering cameraman stumbling upon such a scene is highly unlikely) but it is still extremely enjoyable and lent an element of slapstick by the hapless cyclist who wanders into the midst of the fight only to find himself unseated by a barrage of snowballs and beating a hasty and undignified retreat. The film has a terrific sense of liveliness and fun thanks to the obvious pleasure of the participants of the fight - and let's face it; who amongst us doesn't enjoy a good snowball fight?
8 Reviews
Interesting for the staging of the action and for the small laugh
bob the moo2 March 2008
I watched this film on a DVD that was rammed with short films from the period. I didn't watch all of them as the main problem with these type of things that their value is more in their historical novelty value rather than entertainment. So to watch them you do need to be put in the correct context so that you can keep this in mind and not watch it with modern eyes. With the Primitives & Pioneers DVD collection though you get nothing to help you out, literally the films are played one after the other (the main menu option is "play all") for several hours. With this it is hard to understand their relevance and as an educational tool it falls down as it leaves the viewer to fend for themselves, which I'm sure is fine for some viewers but certainly not the majority. What it means is that the DVD saves you searching the web for the films individually by putting them all in one place but that's about it.
This film is essentially a snowball fight and I assumed that we were on standard territory in that Lumiere was just going to film an event happening. In reality though the snowball fight is tightly controlled by the director as it rarely goes too far from the actual shot. More important is the idea that the action/event is now choreographed to the benefit of the film. In this case my favourite moment of the film is a great bit where a cyclist comes into the middle of this madness, finds himself pelted to the point of falling off and then heads back the way he came. It is very funny and all the better because with so much action you do have to decide to watch him.
As another reviewer has suggested, the make up of the crowd is interesting as well, with men in very proper outfits fighting with women and what look like more working men and it is interesting to wonder what, if anything, the significance of this group all being together in this very childish activity is. Anyway, this film is worth seeing because of how much action Lumière produces as well as the laugh from the well worked entrance (and exit) of the cyclist!
This film is essentially a snowball fight and I assumed that we were on standard territory in that Lumiere was just going to film an event happening. In reality though the snowball fight is tightly controlled by the director as it rarely goes too far from the actual shot. More important is the idea that the action/event is now choreographed to the benefit of the film. In this case my favourite moment of the film is a great bit where a cyclist comes into the middle of this madness, finds himself pelted to the point of falling off and then heads back the way he came. It is very funny and all the better because with so much action you do have to decide to watch him.
As another reviewer has suggested, the make up of the crowd is interesting as well, with men in very proper outfits fighting with women and what look like more working men and it is interesting to wonder what, if anything, the significance of this group all being together in this very childish activity is. Anyway, this film is worth seeing because of how much action Lumière produces as well as the laugh from the well worked entrance (and exit) of the cyclist!
Echoes of Bakhtin, Melville and Fellini before they were even born.
the red duchess14 September 2000
This is a wonderful short depicting a snowfight on the streets of a French town. Two of the great masterpieces of European cinema - 'Les Enfants Terribles' and 'Amarcord' - have crucial scenes involving snowfights: this is the source of such a resonant set-up. This is arguably the first film to actually utilise the properties of monochrome, the brilliant white contrasting with the black chaos it contains.
Although the film seems to embody a kind of anarchy, where all distinctions - class, age, gender etc. - dissolve in an egalitarian melee. 'Bataille', as with so many of the Lumieres' films is essentially conservative. Overlooking this alarmingly fluid mass are the fixed realities of place, home, property, and the bare trees, suggesting the inexorable order of nature and society.
The snowfight, therefore, is not an overthrowing of the old repressive social order, but an example of what Bakhtin called the 'carnivalesque', one of those occasions set aside by societies (eg festivals, parades etc.) where the norm is overthown, where the peasant becomes king and vice versa; where there is a break from the norm, a playing at difference of status, before returning to the old routine and social relations. This is visualised in the fixed gaze of the camera, which keeps whole all the fragmentation it observes. Beautiful.
Although the film seems to embody a kind of anarchy, where all distinctions - class, age, gender etc. - dissolve in an egalitarian melee. 'Bataille', as with so many of the Lumieres' films is essentially conservative. Overlooking this alarmingly fluid mass are the fixed realities of place, home, property, and the bare trees, suggesting the inexorable order of nature and society.
The snowfight, therefore, is not an overthrowing of the old repressive social order, but an example of what Bakhtin called the 'carnivalesque', one of those occasions set aside by societies (eg festivals, parades etc.) where the norm is overthown, where the peasant becomes king and vice versa; where there is a break from the norm, a playing at difference of status, before returning to the old routine and social relations. This is visualised in the fixed gaze of the camera, which keeps whole all the fragmentation it observes. Beautiful.
Fun Watch
Rainey-Dawn12 July 2019
Timeless snowball fight
Horst_In_Translation13 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Looks like everybody depicted here is having quite a fun time. Good for them. The kids join in. The men and women join in despite their heavy dresses and a cyclist passing by gets the full punishment. Nonetheless, these 45 seconds made a funny watch. It's basically everybody against everybody and nobody's crying because he got hit and everybody releases their inner child for once. No plot or storyline are involved, it's simply a documentary of a day in the snow, possibly the first winter day of the year looking at how happy everybody is. Poor guys who, in contrast to the ones in Lyon depicted here, live in areas where it never snows. they don't know what they're missing. Okay short-film by Lumière.
Fun & Funny
Snow Leopard15 March 2005
This brief footage of a snowball fight is both fun and funny. It gives a convincing appearance of spontaneity, but at the same time the camera field catches so much that it seems quite likely that at least some planning was involved. In either case, it's one of the lightest and most amusing of the early Lumière features.
The participants include both men and women, most of them rather nicely dressed. Watching adults unashamedly romping around like this is good fun, and it's hard not to think of Laurel and Hardy or other similar performers. Indeed, the bicyclist who happens onto the scene would have fit right in as a character in a Laurel and Hardy comedy.
As you expect with Lumière, the photography is good, but this time it is the amusing antics that will make this one memorable.
The participants include both men and women, most of them rather nicely dressed. Watching adults unashamedly romping around like this is good fun, and it's hard not to think of Laurel and Hardy or other similar performers. Indeed, the bicyclist who happens onto the scene would have fit right in as a character in a Laurel and Hardy comedy.
As you expect with Lumière, the photography is good, but this time it is the amusing antics that will make this one memorable.
Early Lumiere 'Actuality' Probably Staged
Tornado_Sam21 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
While the Lumiere Brothers' tended to stick with unstaged moments in time with little narrative, this particular short of theirs appears to be staged due to the main subject being a more action-filled scene. The lack of the participants in the scene hamming it up by smiling at the camera and doing bits of their own 'acting' goes to show more in the way of direction by Louis Lumiere (the cinematographer). Additional probabilities also go to show how such a scene was likely more the work of some simple planning rather than a spontaneously filmed event.
The short documents a snowball fight, in which there seems to be a lack of teams: everyone aims their snowballs at anyone and everyone, a chaotic scene captured through a singular long shot. Intended to be the main attraction, this action becomes minimal as a cyclist enters the scene and tumbles over on the sidewalk amidst the pelting snowballs, capturing the audiences' attention more than the general chaos. As other reviewers have already stated, a cameraman happening upon an unstaged fight scene with his equipment seems highly improbable, leading us to believe that this part of the scene was staged, hence further reason to believe it didn't occur by pure circumstance. The bit with the cyclist could, however, have been a case of luck - the man could have just been passing through the area and found himself in the middle of the confusion, which would have delighted Louis Lumiere further. A charming picture to watch, and certainly with more entertaining merits today than most other actualities of the time period.
The short documents a snowball fight, in which there seems to be a lack of teams: everyone aims their snowballs at anyone and everyone, a chaotic scene captured through a singular long shot. Intended to be the main attraction, this action becomes minimal as a cyclist enters the scene and tumbles over on the sidewalk amidst the pelting snowballs, capturing the audiences' attention more than the general chaos. As other reviewers have already stated, a cameraman happening upon an unstaged fight scene with his equipment seems highly improbable, leading us to believe that this part of the scene was staged, hence further reason to believe it didn't occur by pure circumstance. The bit with the cyclist could, however, have been a case of luck - the man could have just been passing through the area and found himself in the middle of the confusion, which would have delighted Louis Lumiere further. A charming picture to watch, and certainly with more entertaining merits today than most other actualities of the time period.
Snowball Fight
Michael_Elliott26 July 2015
Bataille de neige (1897)
This fifty second film from Louis Lumiere has a group of people throwing snowballs in the street. At first they're not aimed at anyone but soon a man comes along riding a bicycle. BATAILLE DE NEIGE is one of the best known films from Lumiere, which is easy to understand why since the image of people throwing snowballs is just downright fun. Even when viewing this film today you can't help but watch it with a smile as it's clear everyone is having a good time and we're given a twist with a minor subplot involving the bicycle rider. Yes, it's certainly nothing special by today's standards but for 1897 it offers something more than just one thing playing out.
This fifty second film from Louis Lumiere has a group of people throwing snowballs in the street. At first they're not aimed at anyone but soon a man comes along riding a bicycle. BATAILLE DE NEIGE is one of the best known films from Lumiere, which is easy to understand why since the image of people throwing snowballs is just downright fun. Even when viewing this film today you can't help but watch it with a smile as it's clear everyone is having a good time and we're given a twist with a minor subplot involving the bicycle rider. Yes, it's certainly nothing special by today's standards but for 1897 it offers something more than just one thing playing out.
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