Checking out the neon vibes of Les Nuits Électriques (1928)

Is it worth the time?

You should definitely watch this if you have about ten minutes and want to feel like you’ve traveled back in time without having to follow a complicated plot. It is basically a visual mood board from 1928.

If you hate movies where nothing happens and there aren't any people talking, you will probably find this incredibly boring. Honestly, you might even turn it off after three minutes.

But for anyone who likes the vibe of old cities or just staring at pretty lights, it’s a tiny gem. It’s way more relaxing than something like It's the Old Army Game which is much louder and busier.

Eugene Deslaw, the guy who made this, clearly just loved how electricity looked. Back then, neon was still kind of a new, magical thing for most people.

The movie starts in Paris, and you can almost smell the rain on the pavement. There are these quick shots of windows and streetlamps that flicker just a little bit too much.

I noticed one sign that just kept spinning and spinning. It actually made my eyes hurt for a second, but I couldn't look away.

It’s funny how the film feels so modern and so old at the same time. The way he cuts between the lights feels like a music video, even though there’s no music attached to it.

Then we get to Berlin and London. The signs for shops and theaters are all jumbled together in the frame.

Some of the words are in languages I don't speak, but it doesn't really matter. You just see the shapes of the letters glowing against the pitch-black sky.

There is this one shot of a clock tower that is lit up from the bottom. It looks kind of spooky, like a ghost watching over the city.

I kept looking into the dark corners of the screen to see if I could spot a person. Usually, it’s just empty space, which makes the lights feel even more lonely.

I think my favorite part was the Prague section. The lights there seemed a bit softer, or maybe the film stock was just different that day.

There’s a reflection in a window that lasts about five seconds. It’s just a blurry car passing by, but it felt so real.

It made me think about how many people in 1928 were walking under those same signs. Most of them probably weren't even looking up, just like we don't look up at our phone towers now.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Les nuits électriques (1928) through its definitive frames.

Anyway, the whole thing is very short. It doesn't overstay its welcome like some other silent films from that era.

I’ve seen The Strong Man which is a classic, but this feels totally different because it doesn't care about jokes. It only cares about the glow.

The film gets really fast near the end. The lights start overlapping and it becomes a bit of a mess, but a good mess.

It’s like Deslaw got excited and just started throwing every light he saw into the camera. You can feel that energy.

One reaction I had was just wondering how they even filmed this at night back then. The cameras were so bulky and the film wasn't very sensitive to low light.

He must have been standing on street corners for hours just to get these few seconds of footage. That kind of effort for a 10-minute movie is pretty cool to think about.

It’s definitely better than A Truthful Liar which I found a bit tedious. This stays fresh because the images keep changing.

You see a sign for a cabaret, then a streetlight, then a glowing window. It’s like a dream you have after drinking too much coffee late at night.

The black-and-white contrast is really sharp here. The blacks are super deep, which makes the white lights look like they are burning holes in the screen.

I did notice a few scratches on the film print I watched. Normally that’s annoying, but here it just added to the vintage feel. 🎞️

I wouldn't say this is a masterpiece that will change your life. It’s more like a nice little snack for your brain.

It’s perfect for watching right before you go to sleep. Or maybe when you're feeling a bit nostalgic for a time you never actually lived through.

I liked how it didn't try to explain anything. No titles cards telling us "This is Paris" or "This is a sign for beer."

You just have to use your brain and figure it out. Or just don't think at all and let the lights wash over you.

It’s a weird little trip, but I’m glad I took it. Sometimes you just need to see how the world looked before everything was LED and 4K. 💡