After being in charge of editing the iconoclastic and foundational Traité de bave et d'éternité, by his mentor Isidore Isou, Lemaître returns to the fundamentals of Lettrist film (artwork applied directly to the film stock, conceived as a palimpsest; the composition of a chaotic, irreverent, literary and self-referential soundtrack; radical disassociation between the film's images and sound) and expands the possibilities of the cinematographic medium in a film that overflows the screen and projection room itself.
Le Film est déjà commencé ? sets up a "syncinéma" event; i.e. a collective work that deconstructs and parodies all the elements that make up the ritual of film projection, from the screen and projector to the projectionist and the audience themselves, enveloping them in a participatory spectacle.
Le Film est déjà commencé ? Maurice Lemaître, 1951, 35 mm, 62 min.
Screened in 35 mm. Copy courtesy of Light Cone.
With the collaboration of Fonds Bismuth Lemaître Guymer and Light Cone.
This copy has been restored and digitized with the support of the CNC (Centre National du cinéma et de l'image animée), under the direction of Light Cone and with the participation of The Bismuth Lemaître Guymer Endowment Fund.
