MOVIE OR DEATH #1 – "A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune)" (1902)

Part 1 of my 1000+ part series.
(For info on that, clickety-click-click)

In which I explore the very beginnings of the Moving Picture, and start a new journey of my own.

TL;DR:

More below The Cut>>>




TITLE: A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune)
YEAR RELEASED: 1902
DIRECTOR: Georges Méliès
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France

Before I even begin, let me plop a huge spoiler warning here:

Though, to be fair, if you haven't watched the movie yet when it came out over 100 years ago, then that's on you, pal.

The movie itself only about 13-ish minutes long and is in the public domain, if you'd like to watch it first. Don't worry, I'll wait for you to finish.

It opens with some incredibly dressed "astronomers" (let's be real, they're cosplaying Ice King from Adventure Time) gathered in a lecture hall doing science things!

During the meeting, one of them is all like, "So bros, you know what would be even more rad than a wizard party? How about a wizard party...on the moon?" At which point they all lose their collective shit and are all like, "HELL YEAH, BRO! MOON WIZARD PARTY!"

How does one get to the moon pre-space race, you might be asking yourself? That's an excellent question, Fictional Reader - so glad you asked. Why, by launching yourself out of a giant cannon in a bullet-shaped ship, of course!

They arrive on the moon, while rudely taking out one of the moon's eyes, in one of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history.

Definitely that scene.

The moon's surface looks surprisingly like a sound stage left over from a production of The Nutcracker (weird, I don't remember that in my science classes). Landing on the moon tuckers you out, though, so they pull blankets OUT OF NOWHERE and decide to plop down right there and turn in for the night. Sleep waits for no one.

They are woken up by one of those oh-so-common moon snowstorms, and decide to explore this soundstage moonscape, only to stumble upon a cave full of Moon Shrooms.

"My Wizard Dudes, this is officially the greatest day ever."

They stumble across - gasp! a Selenite / moon alien Feral Acrobat threatening to somersault them to death, which in all fairness wouldn't be the worst way to go. Only that would keep them from their amazing 'shroom cave, so the Not Wizards beat back the Feral Acrobats with their umbrella swords...turning the acrobats into CHALK!

"Give me my money back, Cirque du Soleil!"

However, soon the entire troupe of Feral Acrobats emerges, taking the Not Wizards to their Lord of the Dance, aka their ruler. The Not Wizards casually commit regicide, while also restocking their chalk supplies, and make a mad dash back to their getaway ship, Scooby Doo-style.

Thankfully, since the moon is above the Earth, one simply has to tilt one's ship over slightly and fall gently towards the Earth.

But what's that? Oh no, a Feral Acrobat has latched itself onto the ship! Sacrebleu!

They, Acrobat included, land in a tank full of newts the ocean and are rescued by a passing ship.

When they all return back to France, the Not Wizards are heralded as heroes, given awards and a celebration. Meanwhile, the Captive Acrobat is taunted into dancing by Not-Edgar Allan Poe. The end!

THOUGHTS:

This is such a fun and charming movie. Seriously. I joke about the quality of the effects and the set, but keep in mind that this was made in 1902. People weren't even really driving cars at this point. The assembly line wouldn't even be widely used for another decade.

With that in mind, the effects are actually mind-boggling. There are fade-out transitions, edits to make it look as though objects and characters are disappearing or appearing, moving set pieces, and so much more. Additionally, it's a silent film, meaning that the actors had that much more work to do to get the plot across.

The movie was an instant hit, with tons of would-be filmmakers essentially ripping Méliès off, and guaranteeing his spot in the history books. Many also consider this to be the first science fiction movie, and I absolutely agree.

Groundbreaking...literally.

That's gotta leave a mark

WOULD RECOMMEND?

I would absolutely recommend this. It's short, it's on YouTube, and it's a whimsical and charming movie with an easy-to-follow plot.