This film is considered as being, the very first, commercially exhibited film in motion picture history. There were some private screenings of experimental processes, as far back as 1888, but this was the first film footage shown to a paying crowd, thus the art of film was born and so was the film industry. Anything before this, could be considered home movies or experimentational growing pains, that were needed, to get us to this starting point, when film became a medium. The Pioneering Era begins here, as the motion pictures (moving pictures/the movies), are born. While watching this film, La sortie de l'usine Lumière à Lyon (1895), all I could think about was having the gift of, seeing people, animals and things, captured on film, as if I was looking out the window of a time machine. It is the opinion of most, if not all, as being the first movie ever exhibited. In my book, of course, it deserves an A+, because it truly is the best film ever made to this point in film history. Plus, its only a minute long, so give it an A+. You have to.
Update: September, 2023 - It turns out, that there are three versions of this film. The Lumiere brothers, would reshoot their films, a couple of times, in order to, improve upon them. They would than release those different versions, over the next year or two. In this case, with Leaving the Factory (1895), the first version was released at this festival. This practice by the brothers showed, that right off the bat, pioneering filmmakers, believed in the multiple takes system and the idea of reshoots. The problem for film fans, was the different versions were released all over the world, so they got lost to time, were mixed up and are hard to find now. I do believe all three versions of this film can be found online, but sometimes, that luck doesn't always pan-out for all the Lumiere brother's films.
9.9 (A+ MyGrade) = 10 IMDB.
Update: September, 2023 - It turns out, that there are three versions of this film. The Lumiere brothers, would reshoot their films, a couple of times, in order to, improve upon them. They would than release those different versions, over the next year or two. In this case, with Leaving the Factory (1895), the first version was released at this festival. This practice by the brothers showed, that right off the bat, pioneering filmmakers, believed in the multiple takes system and the idea of reshoots. The problem for film fans, was the different versions were released all over the world, so they got lost to time, were mixed up and are hard to find now. I do believe all three versions of this film can be found online, but sometimes, that luck doesn't always pan-out for all the Lumiere brother's films.
9.9 (A+ MyGrade) = 10 IMDB.