OLYMPICS DIARY

A memorable stroll through the birthplace of cinema

Every street in Paris has a story to tell and an experience to offer. For centuries, Paris has been an important centre of politics, commerce, art, music, fashion, and revolution. It is a city where history and modernity are intertwined. If you know the local language and have enough time to spare, you will be tempted to explore this wonderful city's huge array of historic and modern day attractions.

On Friday, I headed to Boulevard des Capucines, the birthplace of cinema. On both sides of the street, there are structures showcasing the extraordinary craftsmanship and engineering prowess of French architecture. The stretch is also dotted with several commercial establishments and public facilities, including some of the major shopping malls in Paris.

When I reached Boulevard des Capucines, straightaway I went to see the famous L'Olympia theatre. Established in 1928, it plays host to the world's best musicians. In connection with the ongoing Olympic Games, live music programmes are being held every evening.

Adjacent to this iconic structure, an old, majestic building stood tall exuding an aura of grandeur and elegance. On the wall of its first floor, these words are inscribed: “Here on December 28th, 1895, took place the first public screenings of animated photography with the cinematograph machine invented by the Lumiere brothers.”

I had heard that there was a signboard on the street proclaiming 'The birthplace of cinema'. Though I combed the street, I could not find it. When I asked an employee of one of the restaurants in the locality about the board, he said it might have been removed.

The next destination on my list was the place where the Lumiere brothers first shared publicly their invention. While walking along the street looking for the building's entrance, I saw a huge sign saying 'Hotel Scribe'. The actual location of that first screening is now a basement room below this iconic hotel. Currently, visitors are not allowed to enter the hall.

An inscription on one of its walls, which provides a captivating glimpse into the history, piqued my curiosity. It says that ten films by the Lumiere brothers were screened in a room called the Salon Indien (Indian Salon), thereby linking, however tangentially, India and the moment of cinema's birth.

Previously, there was a hotel called 'Grand Cafe' in the building. The Indian Salon functioned in the basement of the hotel. The Lumiere brothers held the first public film screening inside the Indian Salon hall on December 28, 1895 for around forty paying visitors and special invitees. Their first film, 'Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory,' was a 46-second documentation of workers exiting a factory. Nine more short films were screened on the same day.

Interestingly, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, the German mechanical engineer and physicist who is the first person to observe X-rays, held the first demonstration of his invention at the same venue. Rontgen's X-ray was a major medical breakthrough and the first X-ray image he recorded was that of the left hand of his wife Anna Bertha Ludwig. The discovery brought him various honours and most importantly led to his reception of the first ever awarded Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.

I was wondering how two of the biggest scientific discoveries in history were somehow connected to India. There were several possibilities and one of them seemed reasonable. From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, Indian cotton was imported by the European East India companies and was sought after by consumers in most European countries including France.

The cotton products from India were renowned for their quality. Josephine, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, was very fond of clothes made with natural cotton fibres from India. Possibly, Indian Salon symbolised the long history of warm and deep-rooted trade relations between India and France.