Golden Era is proud to present: The genius of George Melies. Georges Méliès (/mɛ.li.ˈəz/; French: [meljɛs]; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès, a prolific innovator in the use of special effects, accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, and was one of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first Cinemagician. Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896). In May 1902 Méliès made his most famous film, A Trip to the Moon. The film includes the celebrated scene in which a spaceship hits the man in the moon in the eye; it was loosely based on Jules Vernes From the Earth to the Moon and H. G. Wells The First Men in the Moon. In the film Méliès stars as Professor Barbenfouillis, a character similar to the astronomer he played in The Astronomers Dream in 1898. Professor Barbenfouillis is president of the Astronomers Club and oversees an expedition to the Moon. A space vehicle in the form of a large artillery shell is built in his laboratory, and he uses it to lead six men on a voyage to the moon. The vehicle is shot out of a large cannon and hits the Man in the Moon in the eye. The six men explore the moons surface before going to sleep. As they dream, constellations dance around them and they are attacked by a group of moon men, played by acrobats from the Folies Bergère. They are chased back to their space-ship and then somehow fall from the moon back to earth, landing in the ocean (where a superimposed fish tank creates the illusion of the deep ocean). Eventually the six men return to their laboratory and are celebrated by adoring supporters. At 14 minutes, it was Mélièss longest film up to that date and cost 10,000 francs to produce. After being driven out of business, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he was making a meager living as a candy and toy salesman at the Montparnasse station in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers. In 1925 he married his longtime mistress Jeanne dAlcy, and they lived together in Paris with Mélièss young granddaughter Madeleine Malthête-Méliès. By the late 1920s, several journalists had begun to research Méliès and his lifes work, creating new interest in him. As his prestige began to grow in the film world, he was given more recognition and in December 1929 a gala retrospective of his work was held at the Salle Pleyel. In his memoirs, Méliès said that at the event he experienced one of the most brilliant moments of his life. By late 1937 Méliès had become very ill and Langlois arranged for him to be admitted to the Léopold Bellan Hospital in Paris. Langlois had become close to him and he and Franju visited him shortly before his death. When they arrived, Méliès showed them one of his last drawings of a champagne bottle with the cork popped and bubbling over. He then told them: Laugh, my friends. Laugh with me, laugh for me, because I dream your dreams. Méliès died of cancer on 21 January 1938 — just hours after the passing of Émile Cohl, another great French film pioneer — and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 03:47:33 +0000
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