|
|
|
                   
|
|
Cast: Victor Andrie, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet, Jeanne d'Alcy, Henri Delannoy
Running Time: 12 mins.
Vault: VARIETIES
Georges Melies' 1902 film set the standard for science fiction genre films for more than a century. A passionate (perhaps mad) scientist proposes a trip to the moon; others scoff and ridicule him; the trip proves successful, but the scientist and his companions are attacked by moon creatures; the creatures take the scientists to their ruler, who sentences them to death; there is a struggle, and the scientists escape to their rocket; they return to Earth, and to the adulation of the public. What really holds this very short film together is Melies' sense of spectacle. A former stage magician, Melies became interested in cinema as a medium with which to astound his audiences, and this is precisely what he did. The most famous shot in the film, depicting a rocket hitting the "man in the moon" in the face, has become a cinema landmark, and has been anthologized in numerous compilations. Its visual style deals almost entirely in stylized sets, exaggerated depth perspective, and the talents of the numerous vaudeville personalities Melies used in his films. As a template for what was to come in the next hundred years, and simply as an entertainment, A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage Dans La Lune) is a cinema landmark, and still immensely entertaining and influential.
|
|
|
