Władysław Starewicz - The Cameraman's Revenge (1912)

The Cameraman's Revenge (1912)

AKA The Revenge of a Kinematograph Cameraman

Russian/Silent/Black & White

Directed and written by Władysław Starewicz

Mr. Grasshopper, a jilted cameraman, takes his revenge by filming Mr. Beetle and his mistress Miss Dragonfly and then shows the results at a local cinema where Mrs. Beetle is in the audience. This was one of Starewicz's first animated films, and stars very realistic animated beetles.

While Disney is worshiped as an animation pioneer and Lotte Reiniger is finally getting some of the attention she deserves, Władysław Starewicz is a footnote at best. He was not the first stop-motion animator but he was one of the most innovative and experimental. 

Born in 1882, Starewicz’s two talents were graphic design and entomology. These skills collided and soon Starevicz was making films starring insects, puppets and even the odd human being. He found success but like so many others in the pre-Revolution Russian film industry, Starewicz fled the victorious Bolsheviks and ended up in France where he continued his wildly lucrative and creative career.

One of Starewicz’s earliest surviving films and also his most famous, The Cameraman’s Revenge represents an important step forward in the world of animation.

 Starewicz’s taste, sophistication and imagination were years, perhaps decades ahead of their time and this film displays these strengths very well.