Two kids on a spree in Brussels (French: Toto et sa soeur en bombe à Bruxelles) is a French and Belgian short silent film shot in 1909, in Brussels, Belgium, showing two young children wandering past some of the main sightseeing places of the city.[1]
| Two kids on a spree in Brussels | |
|---|---|
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| Produced by | Pathé (France) |
Release date |
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Running time | 8 minutes |
| Countries | France, Belgium |
| Language | French |
Plot
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A young boy and his sister see a motor-car ready to depart in front of their house. They hook their little cart to the back of it, step in and drive along until they reach the Place Royale (English: Royal Square), with the statue of Godfrey of Bouillon in its center and the Palais de Justice (English: Law Courts of Brussels) in the background. From there, they walk on to visit the Grand-Place and watch the Manneken Pis being dressed.
The children continue their expedition on a tram, which passes by the Brussels Stock Exchange, De Brouckère Square and the Gare du Nord (English: North Station).
A new tram ride take the children to the outskirts of Brussels where they see a milkmaid delivering milk with her dogcart. They wait until the dogcart is left unattended, remove the milk cans, climb aboard and happily set off for a ride.[2]
Analysis
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The surviving version of this film that is publicly available is in the English language, which seems to indicate that the film has been distributed outside of France and Belgium, maybe as an early precursor of touristic advertisement.
The film includes 28 shots, composing 10 scenes introduced by intertitles. Continuity editing links, the various shots and scenes albeit with some imperfections, both in the edition of the shots (characters or camera movements not consistent from one shot to the next), and of the scenes (order of the scenes not corresponding to geographic reality). This does not prevent the film from giving a convincing impression of an entertaining trip through the city enlivened by the antics of the children.[1][3]
References
edit- ^ a b Review, synopsis and link to watch the film: "A Cinema History". Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- ^ "Filmarchives online". Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- ^ Gabrielle Claes, Livio Belloi, Toto et sa soeur en bombe à Bruxelles in Les Cahiers du Muet, Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, Musée du cinéma, 1995, pp. 4-5.