Georges Méliès  

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 +"They can keep their [[Robert Bresson|Bresson]]s and their [[Jean Cocteau|Cocteaus]]. The cinematic, modern [[marvelous]] is popular, and the best and most exciting films are, beginning with [[Georges Méliès|Méliès]] and [[Fantômas]], the films shown in [[Grindhouse|local fleapits]], films which seem to have no place in the [[history of cinema]]." --''[[Le Surréalisme au cinéma]]'' (1953) by [[Adonis A. Kyrou]]
 +|}
 +[[Image:Le Voyage dans la lune.jpg|200px|thumb|right|''[[A Trip to the Moon]]'' ([[1902]]) [[Georges Méliès]]]]
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{{Template}} {{Template}}
-'''Georges Méliès''' ([[December 8]], [[1861]] – [[January 21]], [[1938]]), full name '''Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès''', was a [[French film]]maker famous for leading many [[special effects|technical]] and [[narrative]] developments in the [[early cinema|earliest cinema]]. +'''Georges Méliès''' ([[December 8]], [[1861]] – [[January 21]], [[1938]]), full name '''Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès''', was a [[French film]]maker famous for leading many [[special effects|technical]] and [[narrative]] developments in the [[early cinema|earliest cinema]]. He is best-known for his film ''[[A Trip to the Moon]]''.
== Legacy == == Legacy ==
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==Biography== ==Biography==
He was born in [[Paris]], where his family manufactured [[shoe]]s. He was born in [[Paris]], where his family manufactured [[shoe]]s.
-Before making films, he was a [[stage magic]]ian at the [[Theatre Robert-Houdin]]. In [[1895]], he became interested in film after seeing a demonstration of the [[Lumière brothers]]' camera. In [[1897]], he established a studio on a rooftop property in [[Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis|Montreuil]]. Actors performed in front of a painted set as inspired by the conventions of magic and [[musical theater]]. He directed 531 films between [[1896]] and [[1914]], ranging in length from one to forty minutes. In subject matter, these films are often similar to the magic theater shows that Méliès had been doing, containing "tricks" and impossible events, such as objects disappearing or changing size. +Before making [[film]]s, he was a [[stage magic]]ian at the [[Theatre Robert-Houdin]]. In [[1895]], he became interested in film after seeing a demonstration of the [[Lumière brothers]]' camera. In [[1897]], he established a studio on a rooftop property in [[Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis|Montreuil]]. Actors performed in front of a painted set as inspired by the conventions of magic and [[musical theater]]. He directed 531 films between [[1896]] and [[1914]], ranging in length from one to forty minutes. In subject matter, these films are often similar to the magic theater shows that Méliès had been doing, containing "tricks" and impossible events, such as objects disappearing or changing size.
His most famous film is ''[[A Trip to the Moon]]'' (''Le voyage dans la Lune'') made in [[1902]], which includes the celebrated scene in which a spaceship hits the eye of the man in the moon. Also famous is ''[[The Impossible Voyage]]'' (''Le voyage à travers l'impossible'') from [[1904]]. Both of these films are about strange voyages, somewhat in the style of [[Jules Verne]]. These are considered to be some of the most important early [[science fiction film]]s, although their approach is closer to [[fantasy fiction|fantasy]]. Agents of [[Thomas Edison]] bribed a theater owner in [[London]] for a copy of ''A Trip to the Moon''. Edison then made hundreds of copies and showed them in [[New York City]]. Méliès received no compensation. His most famous film is ''[[A Trip to the Moon]]'' (''Le voyage dans la Lune'') made in [[1902]], which includes the celebrated scene in which a spaceship hits the eye of the man in the moon. Also famous is ''[[The Impossible Voyage]]'' (''Le voyage à travers l'impossible'') from [[1904]]. Both of these films are about strange voyages, somewhat in the style of [[Jules Verne]]. These are considered to be some of the most important early [[science fiction film]]s, although their approach is closer to [[fantasy fiction|fantasy]]. Agents of [[Thomas Edison]] bribed a theater owner in [[London]] for a copy of ''A Trip to the Moon''. Edison then made hundreds of copies and showed them in [[New York City]]. Méliès received no compensation.
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==Filmography== ==Filmography==
-Georges Méliès directed hundreds of films including:+===Selected filmography===
-*''The Bewitched Inn'' / ''L'Auberge ensorcelée'' ([[1896 in film|1896]])+ 
-*''The Vanishing Lady'' / ''Escamotage d'une dame chez Robert-Houdin'' (1896)+Georges Méliès directed hundreds of films including the following. For a full filmography see [[Georges Méliès filmography]].
-*''[[Le Manoir du diable|Manor of the Devil]]'' / ''Le Manoir du diable'' (1896)+* ''[[Une partie de cartes|Playing Cards]]'' (1896)
-*''The Four Troublesome Heads'' / ''Un homme de têtes'' ([[1896 in film|1898]])+* ''[[The Haunted Castle (1896 film)|The Haunted Castle]]'' (1896)
-*''An Up-to-Date Conjuror'' / ''Illusioniste fin de siècle'' ([[1896 in film|1899]])+* ''[[Batteuse à vapeur]]'' (1896)
-*''Cinderella'' / ''Cendrillon'' (1899)+* ''[[Bébé et fillettes]]'' (1896)
-*''The Dreyfus Affair'' / ''L'affaire Dreyfus'' (1899)+* ''[[Le Bivouac]]'' (1896)
-*''[[Jeanne d'Arc (1899 film)|Jeanne d'Arc]]'' (1899)+* ''[[Escamotage d'une dame au théâtre Robert Houdin|The Vanishing Lady]]'' / ''Escamotage d'une dame chez Robert Houdin'' (1896)
-*''Fat and Lean Wrestling Match'' / ''Nouvelles luttes extravagantes'' ([[1900 in film|1900]])+* ''[[The Haunted Castle (1896 film)|The House of the Devil]]'' / ''Le Manoir du diable'' (1896)
-*''One Man Band'' / ''L'homme-orchestre'' (1900)+* ''[[Boulevard des Italiens (film)|Boulevard des Italiens]]''
-*''[[The Two Blind Men]]'' / ''Les Deux aveugles'' (1900)+* ''[[Cléopâtre (1899 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1899)
-*''[[The Man With The Rubber Head]]'' / ''L'homme à la tête de caoutchouc'' ([[1901 in film|1901]])+* ''[[Cinderella (1899 film)|Cinderella]]'' / ''Cendrillon'' (1899)
-*''[[Barbe-bleu|Bluebeard]]'' / ''Barbe-bleu'' (1901)+* ''[[The Dreyfus Affair]]'' / ''L'Affaire Dreyfus'' (1899)
-*''[[A Trip to the Moon]]'' / ''Le Voyage dans la Lune'' ([[1902 in film|1902]])+* ''[[Jeanne d'Arc (1899 film)|Jeanne d'Arc]]'' (1900)
-*''[[Le Voyage de Gulliver à Lilliput et chez les géants (1902 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'' / ''Le Voyage de Gulliver à Lilliput et chez les géants'' (1902)+* ''[[A Trip to the Moon]]'' / ''Le Voyage dans la lune'' (1902)
-*''Extraordinary illusions'' / ''Illusions funambulesques'' ([[1903 in film|1903]])+* ''[[The Man With The Rubber Head]]'' / ''L'Homme à la tête de caoutchouc'' (1902)
-*''The Enchanted Well'' / ''Le Puits fantastique'' (1903)+* ''[[Le Voyage de Gulliver à Lilliput et chez les géants (film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'' / ''Le Voyage de Gulliver à Lilliput et chez les Géants'' (1902)
-*''The Apparation'' / ''Le Revenant'' (1903)+* ''[[L'Auberge du Bon Repos|The Inn Where No Man Rests]]'' / ''L'Auberge du Bon Repos'' (1903)
-*''The Music Lover'' / ''Le mélomane'' (1903)+* ''[[The Mystical Flame]]'' / ''La Flamme merveilleuse'' (1903)
-*''[[The Infernal Boiling Pot]]'' / ''Le chaudron infernal'' (1903)+* ''[[Faust aux enfers|Faust in Hell]]'' (1903)
-*''The Infernal Cakewalk'' / ''Le cake-walk infernal'' (1903)+* ''[[Fairyland: A Kingdom of Fairies|Kingdom of the Fairies]]'' / ''Le Royaume des fées'' (1903)
-*''[[L'Auberge du Bon Repos|The Inn Where No Man Rests]]'' / ''L'Auberge du Bon Repos'' (1903)+* ''[[The Impossible Voyage]]'' / ''Voyage à travers l'impossible'' (1904)
-*''The Mystical Flame'' / ''La flamme merveilleuse'' (1903)+* ''[[Le Raid Paris-Monte Carlo en deux heures|The Adventurous Automobile Trip]]'' (1904)
-*''Kingdom of the Fairies'' / ''Le royaume des fées'' (1903)+* ''[[Hilarious Posters]]'' / ''Les Affiches en goguette'' (1905)
-*''The Monster'' / ''Le monstre'' (1903)+* ''[[Palace of the Arabian Knights]]'' / Le Palais des Mille et une Nuits'' (1905)
-*''The Magic Lantern'' / ''La lanterne magicue'' (1903)+* ''[[Paris to Monte Carlo]]'' / ''Le Raid Paris-Monte Carlo en deux Heures'' (1905)
-*''The Ballet Master's Dream'' / ''La rêve du maître de ballet'' (1903)+* ''[[The Mysterious Retort]]'' / ''L'Alchimiste Parafaragamus ou La Cornue infernale'' (1906)
-*''The Damnation of Faust'' / La damnation de Faust'' (1903)+* ''[[20.000 Lieues sous les mers (film)|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]'' / ''20.000 Lieues sous les mers'' (1907)
-*''The Living Playing Cards'' / ''Les cartes vivantes'' (1904)+* ''[[La Civilisation à travers les âges|Humanity Through the Ages]]'' (1908)
-*''Imperceptible Transmutations'' / ''Le thaumaturge chinois'' ([[1904 in film|1904]])+* ''[[Conquest of the Pole]]'' / ''A la conquête du pôle'' (1912)
-*''The Terrible Turkish Executioner'' / ''Le bourreau Turc'' (1904)+* ''[[Les Aventures du baron de Münchhausen|Baron Munchausen's Dream]]'' / ''Les Hallucinations du baron de Münchausen'' (1911)
-*''Untameable Whiskers'' / ''Le roi du maquillage'' (1904)+* ''[[The Ranchman's Debt of Honor]]'' (1911 - USA)
-*''[[The Impossible Voyage]]'' / ''Le Voyage à travers l'impossible'' (1904)+* ''[[The Knight of the Snows]]'' / ''Le Chevalier des Neiges'' (1912)
-*''The Scheming Gambler's Paradise'' / ''Le tripot clandestin'' ([[1905 in film|1905]])+* ''[[Cinderella or The Glass Slipper]]'' / ''Cendrillon ou La Pantoufle mystérieuse'' (1912)
-*''Hilarious Posters'' / ''Les affiches en goguette'' (1905)+* ''[[The Ghost of Sulpher Mountain]]'' (1912 -USA)
-*''Palace of the Arabian Knights'' / Le palais des mille et une nuits'' (1905)+* ''[[The Prisoner's Story]]'' (1912 - USA)
-*''Paris to Monte Carlo'' / ''Le raid Paris-Monte Carlo en deux heures'' (1905)+* ''[[Le Voyage de la famille Bourrichon]]'' (1913)
-*''The Merry Frolics of Satan'' / ''Les 400 farces du diable'' ([[1906 in film|1906]])+ 
-*''The Mysterious Retort'' / ''L'alchimiste Parafaragamus ou La cornue infernale'' (1906)+===Currently available videorecordings===
-*''[[20,000 Lieues Sous les Mers (film)|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]'' / ''20,000 Lieues Sous les Mers'' (1907)+Due to a variety of factors, roughly 200 of Méliès's 531 films exist. These factors include Méliès's destruction of his original negatives, the French army's confiscation of his prints and the typical deterioration of the majority (an estimated 80 percent) of films made before 1950. New films have occasionally been discovered but the majority that were preserved come from the US [[Library of Congress]], due to [[Gaston Méliès]] submitting paper prints of each frame of all new Star Films in order to preserve copyright when he set up the American branch of [[Star Film Company|Star Films]] in 1902.<ref name=Wakeman2/>
-*''The Eclipse'' / ''L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune'' ([[1907 in film|1907]])(image)+* George Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (5-DVD, 173-Film Collection)
-*''Dream of an Opium Eater'' / ''Le rêve d'un fumeur d'opium'' (1907)+* George Méliès Encore: New Discoveries 1896-1911 (26-Film supplement to the above 5-DVD Collection)
-*''The Devilish Tenant'' / ''Le locataire diabolique'' ([[1909 in film|1909]])+* Films of George Méliès
-*''The Doctor's Secret'' / ''Hydrothérapie fantastique'' ([[1910 in film|1910]])+* The Great Train Robbery and Other Primary Works
-*''Conquest of the Pole'' / ''À la conquète du pole'' (1910)+* Marvelous Méliès
-*''[[Les Aventures de baron de Munchhausen|Baron Munchausen's Dream]]'' / ''Les hallucinations du Baron de Münchausen'' ([[1911 in film|1911]])+* Méliès Le Cinémagicien
-*''The Ranchman's Debt of Honor'' (1911 - USA)+* Mes Mémoires
-*''Conquest of the Pole'' / ''La Conquête du pôle'' ([[1912 in film|1912]]) +* Pioneers of the French Cinema, Volume One
-*''The Knight of the Snows'' / ''Le Chevalier des neiges'' (1912) +
-*''Cinderella or The Glass Slipper'' / ''Cendrillon ou La pantoufle mystérieuse'' (1912) +
-*''The Ghost of Sulpher Mountain'' (1912 -USA)+
-*''The Prisoner's Story'' (1912 - USA)+
-*''Le Voyage de la famille Bourrichon'' ([[1913 in film|1913]])+
-*''Cabby's Nightmare'' ([[1914 in film|1914]])+
==Videorecordings== ==Videorecordings==
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==Popular culture== ==Popular culture==
The work of Georges Méliès has been referenced a number of times in film, television and fiction, including: The work of Georges Méliès has been referenced a number of times in film, television and fiction, including:
- +*''[[Le Grand Méliès]]'' (1952) - The life of Georges Méliès is told in this biodrama, directed by [[Georges Franju]]. André Méliès plays the part of his own father.
-*Canadian filmmaker [[Guy Maddin]] and video artist [[Timothy Hutchings]] are both contemporary culture workers who make motion pictures inspired by Méliès.+*The 1956 film version of ''[[Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film)|Around the World in Eighty Days]]'' features ''[[A Trip to the Moon|Le Voyage Dans La Lune]]'' at the Introduction.
 +*In [[Jean-Luc Godard]]'s 1967 film, ''[[La Chinoise]]'', Guillaume ([[Jean-Pierre Léaud]]) prefaces a lecture on current events with a discussion of who, in French cinema, was the true originator of the filming of current events, the [[Lumière]] brothers or Méliès. Guillaume makes the argument that Méliès, rather than the Lumières, was the true originator of current event films in French cinema.
 +*[[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s 1995 music video "[[Heaven for Everyone]]" features clips from Méliès' ''[[Le Voyage dans la Lune]]'' and ''[[The Impossible Voyage]]''.
 +*The [[music video]] for [[The Smashing Pumpkins]]' 1996 song "[[Tonight, Tonight (The Smashing Pumpkins song)|Tonight, Tonight]]" was largely shot in the style of Méliès' best-known films, particularly ''[[A Trip to the Moon|Le Voyage Dans La Lune]].'' The video also features a paddle wheel steamship named "S.S. Méliès."
 +*In the last episode of the [[HBO]] [[miniseries]] ''[[From the Earth to the Moon (TV miniseries)|From The Earth to the Moon]]'', Méliès was played by [[Tchéky Karyo]].
 +*In 2003 The [[New York Guitar Festival]] commissioned the jazz composer/guitarist [[Bill Frisell]] to composes scores for five early films by Georges Méliès, including ''[[A Trip to the Moon]]'' (1902) and ''[[The Impossible Voyage]]'' (1904). Bill Frisell's Trio presented the world premiere of the scores in January 2004 at two concerts taking place at the [[New York Guitar Festival]]. The performances were later broadcast on [[WNYC]] New York Public Radio.{{fact|date=November 2011}}
 +*The contribution of Méliès to cinema history is the subject of the 2007 illustrated novel ''[[The Invention of Hugo Cabret]]'' by [[Brian Selznick]], and [[Martin Scorsese]]'s 2011 film adaptation of it as ''[[Hugo (film)|Hugo]]'' with [[Ben Kingsley]] playing Méliès. The film recreates how the Méliès studio functioned, features several segments of early films by Méliès, and portrays the neglect and later recognition he received in his lifetime.

Revision as of 23:10, 4 January 2019

"They can keep their Bressons and their Cocteaus. The cinematic, modern marvelous is popular, and the best and most exciting films are, beginning with Méliès and Fantômas, the films shown in local fleapits, films which seem to have no place in the history of cinema." --Le Surréalisme au cinéma (1953) by Adonis A. Kyrou

A Trip to the Moon (1902) Georges Méliès
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A Trip to the Moon (1902) Georges Méliès

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Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. He is best-known for his film A Trip to the Moon.

Contents

Legacy

He was very innovative in the use of special effects. He accidentally discovered the stop trick animation, or substitution, in 1896, and was one of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted colour in his films. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality with the cinematograph, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the "Cinemagician."

Biography

He was born in Paris, where his family manufactured shoes. Before making films, he was a stage magician at the Theatre Robert-Houdin. In 1895, he became interested in film after seeing a demonstration of the Lumière brothers' camera. In 1897, he established a studio on a rooftop property in Montreuil. Actors performed in front of a painted set as inspired by the conventions of magic and musical theater. He directed 531 films between 1896 and 1914, ranging in length from one to forty minutes. In subject matter, these films are often similar to the magic theater shows that Méliès had been doing, containing "tricks" and impossible events, such as objects disappearing or changing size.

His most famous film is A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la Lune) made in 1902, which includes the celebrated scene in which a spaceship hits the eye of the man in the moon. Also famous is The Impossible Voyage (Le voyage à travers l'impossible) from 1904. Both of these films are about strange voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne. These are considered to be some of the most important early science fiction films, although their approach is closer to fantasy. Agents of Thomas Edison bribed a theater owner in London for a copy of A Trip to the Moon. Edison then made hundreds of copies and showed them in New York City. Méliès received no compensation.

In addition horror cinema can be traced back to Georges Méliès's Le Manoir du diable (1896).

His 1899 short film Cleopatra was believed to be a lost film until a copy was discovered in 2005 in Paris.

In 1913 Georges Méliès' film company was forced into bankruptcy by the large French and American studios and his company was bought out of receivership by Pathé Frères. After being driven out of business Méliès became a toy salesman at the Montparnasse station. In 1932 the Cinema Society gave Méliès a home in Château d'Orly. Méliès did not grasp the value of his films, and with some 500 films recorded on cellulose, the French Army seized most of this stock to be melted down into boot heels during World War I. Many of the other films were sold to be recycled into new film. As a result many of these films do not exist today. In time, Méliès was rediscovered and honored for his work, eventually taking up stage performance.

Georges Méliès has been awarded the Légion d'honneur (Legion of honor).

Méliès died in Paris and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Filmography

Selected filmography

Georges Méliès directed hundreds of films including the following. For a full filmography see Georges Méliès filmography.

Currently available videorecordings

Due to a variety of factors, roughly 200 of Méliès's 531 films exist. These factors include Méliès's destruction of his original negatives, the French army's confiscation of his prints and the typical deterioration of the majority (an estimated 80 percent) of films made before 1950. New films have occasionally been discovered but the majority that were preserved come from the US Library of Congress, due to Gaston Méliès submitting paper prints of each frame of all new Star Films in order to preserve copyright when he set up the American branch of Star Films in 1902.<ref name=Wakeman2/>

  • George Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (5-DVD, 173-Film Collection)
  • George Méliès Encore: New Discoveries 1896-1911 (26-Film supplement to the above 5-DVD Collection)
  • Films of George Méliès
  • The Great Train Robbery and Other Primary Works
  • Marvelous Méliès
  • Méliès Le Cinémagicien
  • Mes Mémoires
  • Pioneers of the French Cinema, Volume One

Videorecordings

  • Films of George Méliès
  • The Great Train Robbery and Other Primary Works
  • Marvelous Méliès
  • Méliès Le Cinémagicien
  • Mes Mémoires
  • Pioneers of the French Cinema, Volume One
  • Le Grand Méliès (1952) - The life of Georges Méliès is told in this biodrama, directed by Georges Franju. André Méliès plays the part of his own father.

Popular culture

The work of Georges Méliès has been referenced a number of times in film, television and fiction, including:





Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Georges Méliès" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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