Film Review - Le Voyage dans la Lune

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“Le Voyage dans la Lune”

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Holding a plethora of innate charm in such a small frame of time, Le Voyage dans la Lune - A Trip to the Moon - swings you back into a child’s imagination where an event can happen without anybody questioning or wondering, why?  In crude; yet completely the opposite fashion, a group of seemingly overly excited people fly to the moon in a capsule.

Whether it be from the unsuspecting men sleeping on the moon as anthropomorphic stars (Is that Gemini, perhaps?) drift by or that umbrellas can turn into mushrooms simply by placing them on the ground, you are left feeling a certain joy.

However I cannot help but wonder if there was a more satirical undertone to this fast paced and chirpy film. “–a whimsical portrait of science as wizardry by way of the industrial revolution” (Axmaker, 2012) I found it odd that what looked like a group of Scholars were the ones going to the moon. Comparatively, it is notion to believe that rich academics would rather get somebody else to do the dirty work for them yet here they are giving aliens a whack on the head.

The playful nature of this film, if on purpose by Méliès almost makes a mockery out of any scientific values at the time and even now. Rather, Méliès does not try to make concepts out of thin air, instead taking inspiration from what has already been created and using it to its advantage. Because of this it makes great satire in a coy way.

Being a silent film you have to ask the question, would it be better with sound? To that I would say no.  The overly exaggerated actions and stylized nature of the film (The former being conform to the time) perfectly communicate what is going on and emote that innate charm I had mentioned previously. It leaves the comedy to the viewer to pick up yet if missed by some still holds masses of spontaneous imagery and amusement.

Similarly to sound you have to wonder if A Trip to the Moon was recreated with CG would the same level of delight still be apparent throughout it? A fight scene with close range motions, explosions and flashy time lapses turning a simple brawl into a long-drawn out war with blood and gore; personally there is only so far you can go with throwing Michael Bay into the mix without ruining the tone and personality in a film. Sometimes one line can be more pleasing than 50 multi-coloured seizure-inducing ones.

There is no doubt that this film has become an inspiration for many, many people, and what is even more interesting is that across many languages and cultures as well. “Méliès gave film a new fictional function” (Parkinson, n.d.) – and whilst it certainly doesn’t boast an elaborate ‘pataphysical existence, (More on this in the next review) doing so could perhaps alienate what should instead be seen as comparative values to what is considered Meta. As mentioned previously, the use of no sound or rather lack of opens the door to interpretation and more importantly, viewership, on a much wider scale. 

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After seeing the famous image of the moon with a face I had immediately started to see references from many other films and animations. The first notable one being the Moon from Soul Eater. – Soul Eater being Japanese. Seemingly unrelated, an early 1902 film of French decent to a 2004 Japanese anime series. If A Trip to the Moon had been much more vocal based with its narrative, could inspiration like this have been coined? After all, being written in one language would have to be translated and thus not always 100% accurate. The story becomes much more important. But with no voices or narration you tend to narrate it yourself as it goes along making it a lot more personal. Your experience is your own, not that of the narrator’s.

Similarly, from Kamen Rider, the typical “throw away” enemy organisation known as “Shocker” (ショッカー) resembles the aliens from A Trip to the Moon.  They are based around being goofy and twitchy in movement rather than sly masterminds.  

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Le Voyage dans la Lune; joy and wonder at the forefront of experimentation with what was available at the time of making this short film; coupled with implied social commentary turned satirical making it interesting to say the least no matter what way you decide to watch it.

 “Each image just another piece of magic that you can’t figure out.” (The Film Reel, 2011)

References:

Axmaker, S. (2012). seanax.com » Cinema Landmark: ‘A Trip to the Moon’ Restored. [online] Seanax.com. Available at: http://www.seanax.com/2012/04/11/cinema-landmark-a-trip-to-the-moon-restored/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].

Parkinson, D. (n.d.). Empireonline Reviews | Reviews | Empire. [online] empireonline.com. Available at: http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=134388 [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].

The Film Reel, (2011). A Trip To The Moon (1902) - Film Reel Reviews - The Film Reel. [online] Available at: http://www.the-filmreel.com/2011/02/25/a-trip-to-the-moon-1902-film-reel-reviews/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].

Illustration References:

Figure 1. Méliès, G. (1902). Le voyage dans la lune poster. [image] Available at: http://www.movieposterdb.com/posters/12_04/1902/417/l_417_f966cf1b.jpg [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].

Figure 2. Méliès, G. (1902). Le Voyage dans la Lune - Film Still (1). [image] Available at: http://puu.sh/bMbJG/d79176ad21.png [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].

Figure 3. Méliès, G. (1902). A Trip to the Moon, Moon. [image] Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection_images/resized/954/w500h420/CRI_73954.jpg [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].

Figure 4. Square Enix, (2004). Soul Eater, Moon. [image] Available at: http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131017122831/souleater/images/f/f6/Dark_moon_from_soul_eater_by_maxua1-d34f72g.png [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].

Figure 5. Toei Company, (1973). [image] Available at: http://img.ffffound.com/static-data/assets/6/5842bc6c0b77a8bcf0df1eb423b62f350a092c14_m.jpg [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].

Figure 6. Méliès, G. (1902). Aliens. [image] Available at: http://puu.sh/bMqxL/d7f318f6bc.png [Accessed 24 Sep. 2014].