L'Arroseur arrosé

I can just see one of those nitwits being dragged out of the theatre by his angry parents after loudly shouting LOL HE PUNKED HIS ASS.

rofl! first fight scene ever to be filmed! : /)

yay!!the FiRSt MOvie IS FrenCh

so cool - imagine the excitement of the time

debut du burlesque !

the quality of the video is very bad... normally its of much better quality.
This isn't the first movie to be played before an audience though, its the first movie to portray a fictional story, its the first comedy and its the first movie which had a poster to promote the story (previous movie posters were to promote the new technology, without any reference to what was being filmed).

There seem to be two versions of this, both titled the same, shot differently and from different angles and with different qualities. Why?

The version here is the original one, made in 1895, then the Lumière brothers made a remake (the other one you are refering to) in 1896. Don't ask me why, i don't know why the first needed remaking, the two versions are pretty much the same. Perhaps a little detail the Lumière brothers wanted to modify.

I believe this is THE first movie ever played before an audience.

wow, la primera comedia jamás heche