Du trompe-l’oeil cinématographique

Abstract

The cinematographic trompe-l’oeil predates the invention of cinema. It first originated in painting, at a time when the artifices in use broke through the so-called “aesthetic boundary” and hinted at a dynamic surpassing of the limits of the image. This magical feat first manifested itself in the painting of the early modern period. Its origins are very distant in time.It is not possible within the confines of this article to trace every stage leading from the beginnings of this cinematographic technique through to the animation work made possible by its invention. I will thus content myself with a very brief foray into the immediate prehistory of the cinematographic trompe-l’oeil in the 19th century –a time of great and frenzied technical experimentation– before turning my attention, in a more analytical manner, to one of the most remarkable examples of trompe-l’oeil proposed by the cinema of the second half of the 20th century.