René Clair was originally commissioned to make Entr’acte by Rolf de Maré, manager of the Swedish Ballet, to accompany Francis Picabia’s ballet, Relâche, performed from 5 December 1924 at Paris’ Theatre des Champs-Élysées. The ballet opened with a prologue in which Erik Satie, composer of the score for both ballet and film, appears on the roof of the theatre together with Francis Picabia. The film itself was shown during the interval as a means of “getting the audience to leave their seats”, a subversive purpose reported in the press of the day.

Critical reception of Picabia’s ballet was mixed, but the film received unanimous praise. It launched Clair’s career. Clair manages to rise above Picabia’s initial screenplay to produce a dynamically and disturbingly edited Dada piece. As R. de Givrey remarked in “Bonsoir” at the time, “by producing an exasperating effect on the senses, it makes one want to slap the man sitting next to one and bite the woman on the other side”.

Stéphanie Salmon