Constant Girel
Birth : 1873-01-01, Seyssel (Ain)
Death : 1952-01-01
History
Constant Girel was the son of a pharmacist and studied the subject at Lyon, at which time his brother-in-law was employed at the Lumière factory. He was taken on as a Lumière operator some time in 1896, filming for them in Germany in September of that year, when he made contact with Ludwig Stollwerck and filmed Tsar Nikolas II's inspection of the German army at Breslau. It was the Stollwerk connection that no doubt led him to Switzerland, where he worked for another Lumière representative, Henri Lavanchy-Clarke, before filming the Tsar again towards the end of the year at Cherbourg and Chalons. On 6 December he left for Japan, arriving at Kobe on 9 January 1897, where he met up with the Lumière representative for Japan, Inabata Katsutaro. The pair then inaugurated the cinema in Japan with a program at Osaka's Nanchi Theatre on 15 February 1897. Girel's competence as a cameraman has been questioned, but he filmed a wide number of Japanese scenes, many of which ended up in the Lumière catalog. He returned to France after a year, being replaced by Gabriel Veyre, approached Pathé Frères but failed to find further work in film, and returned to pharmacy.
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A Japanese theatre performance based on a legend.
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Pedestrian and rickshaws traffic on Shijo Kobashi bridge, in Kyoto.
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Passage of a Shintoist procession, whose members carry banners and lanterns, somewhere in Kyoto.
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Two fighters, in traditional costume, taking part to the national kendo tournament.
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Geisha performance, with umbrella and fans, in Kyoto.
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The earliest surviving Japanese film showing the martial art of kendo.
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Ainu people, performing a traditional dance, somewhere near Muroran, Hokkaido. A group of women is spot-dancing, while a man circles around them.
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Four Ainu men, performing a traditional dance, somewhere near Muroran, Hokkaido.
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Groups of men and women, parading in Interlaken, Switzerland, some of them carrying banners.
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Two lines of workers, pulling a steamroller, somewhere in the streets of Saigon, Vietnam (nowadays, Ho Chi Minh City).
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The waterfalls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland, form a cloud of suspended droplets.
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A battalion of Bersaglieri charging, at the double, comes to a full stop; the first line goes down on bended knee, while others remain standing; and all fire their weapons repeatedly.
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Japanese actors act out an early martial arts weapons scene.
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Rickshaws and pedestrians traffic on the street.
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Porters carry baskets full of fish, while others carry bundles, on their shoulders, in Yokohama harbor.
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A group of Japanese, eating dinner, somewhere in Kyoto, Honshu.
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A Japanese family having tea.
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King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy stepping down a staircase, followed by their escort, before climbing into a horse-drawn carriage.
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Sovereign Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna and President Félix Faure, walking by, followed by their respective escorts.
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A small boat is approaching waterfalls, shrouded in thick fog, in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland.
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A battalion, preceded by three riders and a military marching band, parades in front of the crowd. A man is manoeuvring a handcart bearing the inscription "Sunlight Soap" in the foreground.
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Three men are chopping and transporting firewood, among passers-by, on a square in Lausanne.
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Pedestrian and vehicles traffic on the Mittlere Brücke in Basel, Switzerland.
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A Tyrolean dancing couple, accompanied by a musician, perform a traditional folk dance in a park in Cologne.
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A crowd of passers-by is granted access to a drawbridge by its gatekeeper.
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Panorama of the docks, the city and the bridge of a boat sailing the Rhine river in Cologne, Germany.
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The German infantry parades in front of Nicholas II and Wilhelm II.
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Wilhelm II and Nicholas II, on horseback, parade in front of the cheering crowd, during the inauguration ceremony of William I's monument in Breslau, Germany (nowadays Wroclaw, Poland).
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Several military companies parading, on foot, in front of Wilhelm II, in Breslau, Germany (nowadays Wroclaw, Poland).
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Released on October 4, 1896 in Lyon ( France ) under the title “ Fêtes de l'inauguration du monument de Guillaume Ier à Breslau : II. - Le voile tombe (Lyon républicain, 4 octobre 1896)”. (catalogue-lumiere.com)
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Lancers parading, during the inauguration ceremony of William I's monument in Breslau, Germany (nowadays Wroclaw, Poland).
