Tuesday, June 4, 2013

A Trip to the Moon (1902)

Star-Film (France)
Directed by Georges Méliès
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Flicker Alley)

This legendary short film is finally available in its original color-tinted presentation, with a modern soundtrack by Air that perfectly complements it. They add yet more layers to what is already a marvelous, hypnotic story. A group of scientists, looking more like wizards in their long coats and hats, gather to plan their trip to the moon. The blackboard diagram is deceptively simple: a big gun, a dashed line, the moon. The rocket is built and the launch, accompanied by much fanfare and dancing girls, a success. The iconic man-in-the-moon face welcomes them, but the first thing they do after landing is lay down and go to sleep, dreaming of those dancing girls. A moon man appears and they go underground to escape him: a land of giant mushrooms with more moon men in skeleton costumes that disappear in smoke. They get back on their ship, land in the ocean and are welcomed by, yep, more dancing girls.

No comments:

Post a Comment