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Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 2: The Magic of Melies

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Between 1896 and 1912, Georges Melies produced over 500 films. Fifteen of them are found here, along with a twenty minute documentary about Melies. The documentary is unusual, told as a first person narrative with other voices occasionally reminiscing about Georges as a boy, etc. As I say, it is unusual but interesting, and we learn that Monsieur Melies' parents allowed him to leave the family shoe factory so that he could pursue his own different drummer. He became a magician and actor, later falling in love with the Lumiere brothers' cinematographe; unable to buy a Lumiere machine, he invented his own combination camera-projector and began showing his films at carnivals and fairs. After making many films, Melies finished his life running a toy shop with an old flame.

If the Lumieres were the first film documentarians, Melies was the first film wizard, and these fifteen examples of his work are still a pleasure to watch. Magnificently preserved and restored, they look fabulous and are entertaining almost one hundred years later. The films found here are: The Impossible Voyage; The Untamable Whiskers; The Cook in Trouble; Tchin-chao, the Chinese Conjurer; The Wonderful Living Fan; The Mermaid; The Living Playing Cards; The Black Imp; The Enchanted Sedan Chair; The Scheming Gambler's Paradise; The Hilarious Posters; The Mysterious Retort; The Eclipse; Good Glue Sticks; and Long Distance Wireless Photography. Melies' best known work, A Trip to the Moon (1902), is not here, but on the Landmarks of early Film, Volume 1, collection.

I'm sure many people will feel like I do; that there's a great fascination in seeing what was being done with film in the early 1900's. Many are familiar with "A Trip to the Moon" (which is not included here, but is presented in its entirety, with narration, in VOLUME 1), but these lesser known films offer much interest and enjoyment.

I especially like seeing the props and sets created for these surreal films. The hand-coloring on "The Impossible Voyage" is a wonderful feature. I also find it very interesting that at this early stage in filmmaking, the optical effects don't look nearly as primitive as one would expect.

As in other historical releases by Image, the prints are very clear. A beautiful presentation!

This wonderful disc opens with a 20-minute documentary view of French film pioneer Georges Méliés, then followed by 15 of his films, beautifully restored and presented uncut:

The Impossible Voyage (1904) (with hand-colored tint and narration written by Méliés), The Untamable Whiskers (1904), The Cook in Trouble (1904), Tchin-Tao: The Chinese Conjurer (1904), The Wonderful Living Fan (1904), The Mermaid (1904), The Living Playing Cards (1905), The Black Imp (1905), The Enchanted Sedan Chair (1905), The Scheming Gambler's Paradise (1905), the Hilarious Posters (1905), The Mysterious Retort (1906), The Eclipse (1907), Good Glue Sticks (1907), Long Distance Wireless Photography (1908).

Missing on this disc, of course, is Méliés' masterpiece, A Trip to the Moon (1902). You'll have to get Landmarks of Early Film Volume 1 to get that. I sincerely recommend both Vol. 1 and 2 to any film fan or collector.

For my money one of the most underrated filmmakers in history, Melies' movies are a joy to watch. It's true you don't see the sophistication in film style that D.W. Griffith brought to his movies, but for anyone who today understands what the expression "film magic" means, Melies is the one who started it all. Not all of the films on this disk are completely captivating, but they certainly capture someone playing around with different ways to perform film magic and entertain an audience. Although his "voyage to the moon" is well placed in volume 1 of the "landmarks" series, along with other important early films, it is missed here. I can't say for certain because I AM a fan, but some may not enjoy this DVD as much because it is so heavy on Melies' shorter pieces (there is only one longer film in here, and for me it is a highlight). The short pieces can be fun, but I don't think they necessarily show Melies at his best - telling a complete, if totally whimsical and fantastic story.

OK--first, the warning--Amazon, take note:

DO NOT buy the recommended package of "Landmarks" vols. 1 and 2, and the 5-DVD set, "The Movies Begin"--you will be spending extra money on duplicate material. The two Landmarks DVDs are taken from the Kino "Movies Begin" set--Landmarks 1 is all of Kino's vol. 1, plus some of vol. 5, while the Melies disc is exactly the same as vol. 4 of the Kino set. If you want just the Melies and some of the other early stuff, get the two Landmark discs; if you want to splurge and get some more very interesting early films, by all means by the Kino box set--but, I repeat, DO NOT take Amazon's recommendation and buy all three--if you do, expect to be enraged at having bought two and a half of the same discs twice. This must be a slip on Amazon's part, because their recommendations are usually pretty carefully thought out.

Now--I wrote this review mainly for the above warning, but I can comment on the disc itself. I have the Kino set, and of the five discs, I have to admit that the Melies is my least favourite. Perhaps it's because the other discs in the set have quite a wide variety, and this one is devoted to the work of just one man. The films are all interesting, to be sure, but they are all pretty much of the same type--very theatrical set-pieces that show off Melies' mastery of camera tricks. That's what Melies wanted to do, of course, so one can't fault them on that score--but I don't think Melies intended for us to watch 90 minutes of this all at once. Technically, they're all fascinating, but few have the sustained interest of what is rightly Melies' best known work, A Trip to the Moon (contained on Landmarks vol 1, as well as vol. 1 of the Kino set). However, they are all pretty short, and one doesn't have to take them all at one sitting. For my part, a little of this particular genre goes a long way, and I find that these films are even less inherently interesting than the Lumieres' "moving snapshots". Moreover, the accompanying documentary, "narrated" by Melies (an French-accented voice-over playing GM), is short on information and is really intended to offer highlights of the films--which are all available in their entirety on the disc. So the documentary is really quite superfluous. Finally, there's an Easter Egg on this disc--an early Edison short that borrows the premise of The Black Imp. It's not substantial, and not as good as Melies, but it's a nice bonus all the same.

My recommendation? If you're into this stuff at all, spend a little extra and get the 5-disc Kino set. There are lots of goodies to explore that are just as--even arguably far more--interesting that what's on here. Or, if you're really a big fan of Melies, buy Kino's set devoted entirely to him. Either way, it's hard to know exactly who this individual disc is aimed at. It's OK, but there are better packages available.

Even though these films are nearly all 100 years old or older, they still have the power to entertain, fascinate, delight, and charm. Decades before moviegoing audiences were familiar with computer special effects and had lost the sense of wonder that audiences had at the turn of the last century, Georges Méliès (one of my favorite directors) was creating amazing magical trick shots and special effects just by drawing on his own past career as a magician and by using his imagination. He did all of these tricks by himself instead of relying on a computer, and not only did he do the special effects by himself, he did everything else associated with the film-making process. He directed, produced, wrote, acted in, and distributed all of these films. People who only know him by his best-known film 'Le Voyage Dans la Lune' are missing out on a whole lot. The 15 films contained on this disc show that he did a lot more than just that early sci-fi film. The first film, the longest, is 'Le Voyage à Travers l'Impossible' (1904), which in many ways seems like a sequel to 'Le Voyage Dans la Lune.' Here the travellers and their brave leader are travelling into the Sun, and also have a series of mishaps along the way before coming home victorious. This film is also hand-colored (though given its extreme age, the colors are a bit faded), and with a narration by Fabrice Zagury, the same one who narrates 'Le Voyage Dans la Lune.' The narration doesn't bother me, since it's my understanding that both of these films were originally meant to be accompanied by this narration when shown in theatres, and besides, without any intertitles, this story can seem a bit confusing because of how complex it is. There are also 14 shorter subjects, many of them reenactments of Monsieur Méliès's magic act, only even better and with more potential to stun an audience thanks to the moving image and what appears to be a nonstop stream of magic tricks instead of the more mundane explanation of stopping and starting the camera again to achieve these breathtaking stunts. The short documentary which starts the disc is also very good, giving the viewer a concise but nevertheless compelling and detailed look into Monsieur Méliès's life and career. My only complaint about the disc is that it wasn't longer and didn't have a lot more than just 15 of these amazing films on it!

It has been over one hundred years since Georges Melies first began making movies. He was a true pioneer in every sense of the word. He invented his own camera and projector and built his own studio so that he could have complete control over what he was doing. His use of nudity in 1897 created a scandal and some of his films had very unhappy endings. I bring this up only to illustrate the old French proverb "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Of the hundreds of films that he made it's the trick films as he called them that he is best remembered for. It was in these that Melies developed the art of special effects. Double exposures, dissolves, and stop motion animation were used and refined to create films that even today are truly astounding. Even people who aren't film buffs are familiar with his 1902 A TRIP TO THE MOON (which is not included in this anthology. It's in LANDMARKS OF EARLY FILM, VOLUME 1). The shot of the rocket hitting the Moon in the eye is one of the most famous in film history.

What makes this collection so valuable are the 15 short films presented in virtually mint condition that allow us to sample the genius of Melies 100 years later. While they are all fascinating and entertaining, there is a block of four in a row beginning with TCHIN-CHAO, THE CHINESE CONJURER through THE LIVING PLAYING CARDS that show off Melies at his best. There is even a short documentary GEORGE MELIES: CINEMA MAGICIAN that gives a brief look at his life and work which opens the set although the credits don't appear until the end of the DVD. I would have left the documentary at the end of the presentation as on the VHS edition. This not only puts the credits where they belong but doesn't give away the secrets until after the shorts are finished. The musical accompaniment by Alexander Rannie is ideal and enhances the magic of these enchanting films. They may be 100 years old but true magic remains timeless.

The movies are in good order, however I wasn't able to play the first few without dealing with the commentary. I enjoyed the sidebars but there are times too when I want only the film. Beyond that the films are in a state or repair that I would expect and the musical acccompaniment was very suitable. Very enjoyable for a novice collector(my self).

This iS a COOL SET OF STUFF a ton of Georges Méliès's movies

But a trip to the moon one his bests is on vol.1

buy my favorite one Conquête du pôle, La (Also Known As: Conquest of the Pole (1912) IS still OUT OF PRINT This movie is so hard to Find