Watch The Cabbage-Patch Fairy For Free

Good concept, poorly executed.

disgusting, overrated, pointless

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Wikipedia states. I'll go along with that. In 1896, films were relatively new--and, the Lumiere Bros were still turning out actuality shorts. This film I will admit is rather confusing but it's apparently based on this idea that baby boys come from cabbages (and baby girls from roses). There is no real story; the film consists of a fairy of sorts pulling babies out of cabbages. That's it but it's a minute long so there's nothing more you could expect.I will admit I am not too familiar with director Alice Guy. This is the only film I've seen by her (except for "Making an American Citizen" from 1912). Reportedly, this is her first film. And for 1896 very clever. And about that reviewer who said it's all about child cruelty--forget that! Yes, she wasn't exactly gentle to these babies, but I doubt they were hurt all that bad. At least she set them down! I find this harmless. Watch it anyway--it's available on YouTube and while you won't be impressed, you will have to give it to Guy--these sets and costumes are ahead of their time.

If I were to review this film in a stream of consciousness mode and mention random thoughts that ran through my mind as I watched it, I guess it would take me slightly more time than the half minute or so I've already spent here, which would actually be longer than the film itself! It's listed in the IMDb details for one minute, but it wasn't too tough to count off thirty seconds as I watched it a couple times.I happened to catch this during it's Turner Classics premiere and it was heralded by the pair of host critics as the first narrative film to tell a story. Prior to this, the very earliest film makers simply focused their camera on a person or object and did little more than take a picture that lasted on screen a while. If you think about it, film making had to start somewhere from scratch, so these early attempts showed initiative in their own way. This is certainly the earliest film I've seen and reviewed so far, beating out my previous movie, 1915's "Birth of a Nation" by a full two decades! The English translation of the title amounts to 'The Cabbage Fairy', featuring a Mother Nature type of character seemingly plucking newborn babies out of a cabbage patch. Her actions are a bit cringe-worthy; as she sets down the first baby in a half sitting position, the toddler falls back on it's head. She lifts the second one with one arm, her hand placed under the baby's armpit in what must have been an uncomfortable moment for the little one. There's a third 'baby' brought into the picture, but this last one appears to be a doll as it lays motionless for it's brief appearance. Throughout the picture's short duration, it appears that the principal character is shortsightedly self conscious regarding her own presence, with the babies' welfare a secondary concern.It's virtually impossible to evaluate this film's merits based on the existing IMDb rating system. One could go a full '10' for originality and creativity at a time when motion pictures didn't even exist, or a lowly '1' for it's apparent disregard for the cabbage babies. Personally, I'll keep it in the middle.By the way, my summary line refers to the advice director Alice Guy gave to the players in her short films - 'Be natural'.

This film is actually lost. No footage survives. Online footage is a remake from the year 1900 by the same woman director. I was astounded when viewing the 1900 film. The 1896 original was, I was informed, the first film ever directed by a woman. One might expect a woman's touch in her own remake? Instead the 1900 version depicts what amounts to risking harm to babies, perhaps not deliberate but totally inexcusable, needless and careless!The film is a 'fantasy' with a mother nature figure grinning inanely and posing whilst plucking babies out of the cabbage patch. It is quite clear the 1st two babies are real and when roughly picking the first one up and plonking it down the stupid and irresponsible woman - also the director, apparently - lets go of the baby's head allowing it to fall backwards onto the floor. The baby then reacts flailing its arms and appearing to cry. I can only hope the floor was thickly carpeted but it may have been hard and even this small drop could injure such a young baby. Not content with this the woman then picks the next baby up by one arm/shoulder! Anyone knows this could cause a baby pain and possible injury. She plonks that baby onto the floor still grinning inanely and posing. The third cabbage she reaches into produces something which apparently is a doll. That is haphazardly put on the floor and just looks creepy because it is immobile and so appears rather like a dead baby.I find this film unacceptably careless and the woman would be questioned for her poor treatment of the babies nowadays. Instead she is revered as the world's first woman director! The fact this was 1900 does NOT excuse this behaviour at all. There are other early films depicting animal cruelty (such as 'Cock Fight No. 2' and the appalling 'Electrocuting an Elephant') but this so far is the only film I have seen depicting possibly dangerous treatment of babies. Ironic that the woman director and mother nature figures are the ones guilty of this. By 1900 there were impressive and innovative works of early film being produced by the likes of Georges Melies, Walter R. Booth and James Williamson which are hugely technically and artistically advanced compared to this very crude and inept film.To be fair the 1896 film cannot be commented on or assessed at all as it is lost. It apparently had one real baby and dolls. If we assume the one baby was treated more carefully in that then it would be far better than the 1900 remake but if the remake is so crude that even for 1896 it would be unimpressive then the 1896 film would be equally unimpressive I am sure.

And she proves right away that she's as good as her male colleagues, probably superior to most of them. The first female filmmaker starts her directing career with a pretty good effort here. The really interesting thing about "La fée aux choux"/"The Cabbage Fairy" is that it's really themed in a way that you can see the female touch in it: the beautiful female lead character, the scenes of mother nature giving birth and her gentle movements. And all this packed into clearly less than a minute. I watched this film with no soundtrack and I'm fairly certain it would be even more fun with a soothing slow tune. It's a good piece of filmmaking from one of the best female and most prolific directors in the history of film. On a sidenote, beyond enjoying the action, it also made me VERY hungry for cabbage heads. Man the ones in this one looked delicious. Recommended.