Trip to the Moon (French: Le Voyage dans la lune) is a 1902 French black and white silent science fiction film. It is loosely based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells.
The film was written and directed by Georges Méliès, assisted by his brother Gaston. The film runs 14 minutes if projected at 16 frames per second, which was the standard frame rate at the time the film was produced. It was extremely popular at the time of its release and is the best-known of the hundreds of fantasy films made by Méliès. A Trip to the Moon is the first science fiction film, and utilizes innovative animation and special effects, including the iconic shot of the rocketship landing in the moon's eye.
It was named one of the 100 greatest films of the 20th century by The Village Voice, ranking in at #84.
Deep Analysis
Some historians suggest that although A Trip to the Moon was among the most technically innovative films up until that time, it still displays a primitive understanding of narrative film technique. American film scholar Ken Dancyger writes that the film is "no more than a series of amusing shots, each a scene unto itself. The shots tell a story, but not in the manner to which we are accustomed. It was not until the work of American Edwin S. Porter that editing became more purposeful." However, it has been said that Porter was inspired partially "by the length and quality of Méliès's work."
Although most of the editing in A Trip to the Moon is purely functional, there is one unusual choice: when the astronomers land onto the lunar surface, the "same event is shown twice, and very differently” the first time it is shown crashing into the eye of the man in the moon; the second time it is shown landing on the moon's flat terrain. The concept of showing an action twice in different ways was experimented with again by Porter in his film Life of an American Fireman, released roughly a year after A Trip to the Moon.
Some have claimed that the film was one of the earliest examples of pataphysical film, while stating that the film aims to "show the illogicality of logical thinking." Others still have remarked that the director, Georges Méliès, aimed in the film to "invert the hierarchal values of modern French society and hold them up to ridicule in a riot of the carnivalesque." This is seen as an inherent part of the film's plot; the story itself pokes fun at the scientists and at science in general: upon traveling to the moon, these astronomers find that the face of the moon is, in fact, the face of a man, and that it is populated by little green men.
The film was written and directed by Georges Méliès, assisted by his brother Gaston. The film runs 14 minutes if projected at 16 frames per second, which was the standard frame rate at the time the film was produced. It was extremely popular at the time of its release and is the best-known of the hundreds of fantasy films made by Méliès. A Trip to the Moon is the first science fiction film, and utilizes innovative animation and special effects, including the iconic shot of the rocketship landing in the moon's eye.
It was named one of the 100 greatest films of the 20th century by The Village Voice, ranking in at #84.
Deep Analysis
Some historians suggest that although A Trip to the Moon was among the most technically innovative films up until that time, it still displays a primitive understanding of narrative film technique. American film scholar Ken Dancyger writes that the film is "no more than a series of amusing shots, each a scene unto itself. The shots tell a story, but not in the manner to which we are accustomed. It was not until the work of American Edwin S. Porter that editing became more purposeful." However, it has been said that Porter was inspired partially "by the length and quality of Méliès's work."
Although most of the editing in A Trip to the Moon is purely functional, there is one unusual choice: when the astronomers land onto the lunar surface, the "same event is shown twice, and very differently” the first time it is shown crashing into the eye of the man in the moon; the second time it is shown landing on the moon's flat terrain. The concept of showing an action twice in different ways was experimented with again by Porter in his film Life of an American Fireman, released roughly a year after A Trip to the Moon.
Some have claimed that the film was one of the earliest examples of pataphysical film, while stating that the film aims to "show the illogicality of logical thinking." Others still have remarked that the director, Georges Méliès, aimed in the film to "invert the hierarchal values of modern French society and hold them up to ridicule in a riot of the carnivalesque." This is seen as an inherent part of the film's plot; the story itself pokes fun at the scientists and at science in general: upon traveling to the moon, these astronomers find that the face of the moon is, in fact, the face of a man, and that it is populated by little green men.
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