A Trip to the Moon

Plot

Professor Barbenfouillis, the eccentric president of the Astronomers' Club, proposes an ambitious expedition to the Moon to his skeptical colleagues. After much debate and celebration, the astronomers construct a massive cannon and a bullet-shaped spacecraft to launch them toward their lunar destination. The projectile dramatically lands in the Moon's eye, and the explorers emerge to discover a surreal landscape populated by giant mushrooms, crystalline formations, and hostile alien beings called Selenites. After battling and escaping their lunar captors, the explorers race back to their spacecraft and fall from the Moon back to Earth, landing in the ocean where they are rescued and celebrated as national heroes with a grand parade.

Historical Background

The film was created during the Belle Époque (1871-1914), a period of relative peace, prosperity, and scientific optimism in Europe. The turn of the century saw tremendous advances in technology, including the development of automobiles, airplanes, and motion pictures. The era was characterized by fascination with science fiction and exploration, reflecting society's belief in human progress and the conquest of nature. Colonial expansion was at its height, with European powers exploring and claiming territories around the world. The film's themes of exploration and conquest mirror the colonial attitudes of the time. The Wright brothers' first flight would occur just one year later, in 1903, capturing the public's imagination about air travel and space exploration. The film also emerged during the early days of cinema, when filmmakers were still discovering the artistic possibilities of the medium and moving away from simple actualities toward narrative storytelling.

Making Of

Georges Méliès, a former magician and theater owner, applied his theatrical expertise to filmmaking, creating elaborate sets and using stage machinery to achieve spectacular effects. The film was shot in Méliès's glass-walled studio in Montreuil-sous-Bois, which allowed natural lighting while protecting the sets from weather. Méliès personally designed and built all the props and sets, including the massive cannon and the famous Moon face. The actors were recruited from the Théâtre Robert-Houdin, which Méliès owned. The film's special effects were achieved through in-camera techniques including multiple exposure, substitution splices, time-lapse photography, and dissolves. Méliès's brother Gaston managed the Star Film Company's international distribution, though the film's success led to widespread piracy, particularly by American producers who copied the film illegally. The hand-painted color version was created by a team of women working in Elisabeth Thuillier's color workshop, with each frame individually painted using aniline dyes.

Visual Style

The film was shot using a single camera positioned to capture the theatrical-style action, typical of Méliès's approach. The cinematography employed innovative techniques for the time, including multiple exposure to create ghostly effects and substitution splices for magical transformations. Méliès used a fixed camera position throughout, treating the frame as a proscenium stage. The lighting was primarily natural, coming through the glass walls of Méliès's studio, supplemented by artificial lighting for specific effects. The film's visual style is highly theatrical, with painted backdrops and three-dimensional props creating a dreamlike, artificial world. The hand-painted color version adds another dimension to the cinematography, with carefully applied colors enhancing the fantastical atmosphere. The camera work, while technically simple by modern standards, was revolutionary for its use of special effects to create impossible images and magical transformations.

Innovations

The film pioneered numerous technical innovations that would become fundamental to cinema. Méliès developed and perfected multiple exposure techniques, allowing him to superimpose images and create ghostly apparitions. The substitution splice, which Méliès invented, enabled sudden appearances and disappearances by stopping the camera, changing elements in the scene, and restarting filming. The film featured complex set changes and mechanical effects, including the famous rocket launch sequence. Méliès used time-lapse photography to show the passage of time and employed dissolves for smooth transitions between scenes. The hand-painted color version represented a remarkable technical achievement, with each of the approximately 13,375 frames individually colored by hand. The film's use of miniatures and forced perspective techniques created the illusion of scale and distance. These technical innovations established the foundation for cinematic special effects and demonstrated the artistic possibilities of the new medium.

Music

The film was originally silent, as were all films of 1902. In theaters, it would have been accompanied by live music, typically a pianist or small orchestra playing popular classical pieces or improvised accompaniment. Méliès himself suggested musical cues for the film's exhibition, recommending specific pieces for different scenes. Modern screenings have featured various musical interpretations, from traditional piano accompaniments to electronic scores. The 2011 restoration featured a new score by the French band Air, which was specifically composed to accompany the hand-painted color version. This contemporary score helped reintroduce the film to modern audiences while respecting its historical significance. The soundtrack choices for screenings have evolved over time, reflecting changing musical tastes while maintaining the film's magical atmosphere.

Memorable Scenes

• The iconic sequence where the bullet-shaped spacecraft is fired from the giant cannon and dramatically lands in the Moon's eye, causing the Moon to wince in pain
• The astronomers' celebration scene where they toast their upcoming adventure with champagne and then ceremoniously march to the launch site
• The emergence of the explorers from their spacecraft onto the lunar surface, discovering the strange, dreamlike landscape with giant mushrooms and crystalline formations
• The battle with the Selenites in the underground caverns, where the astronomers use their umbrellas to defeat their alien adversaries
• The triumphant return to Earth where the spacecraft falls into the ocean and the heroes are rescued and celebrated with a massive parade

What Critics Said

Contemporary critics in 1902 were amazed by the film's technical achievements and imaginative scope. The French press praised Méliès's 'cinematic magic' and called the film 'a marvel of ingenuity and artistry.' British and American critics were equally impressed, with publications marveling at the film's ability to transport audiences to another world. Modern critics universally acclaim the film as a masterpiece of early cinema. The New York Times has called it 'a cornerstone of cinematic history' and 'one of the most important films ever made.' Film scholars consider it a pivotal work that established the language of narrative cinema and demonstrated the artistic potential of the medium. The restored color version premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim, with many critics noting how the hand-coloring enhances the film's dreamlike, fantastical quality.

What Audiences Thought

The film was an enormous popular success upon its release, drawing crowds to theaters across Europe and America. Audiences were captivated by the film's imaginative story and spectacular effects, which seemed like genuine magic to viewers who had never seen such cinematic tricks before. In France, the film played to packed houses for months, with many viewers returning multiple times to witness its wonders. The international success was equally impressive, though piracy meant Méliès didn't always profit from foreign screenings. American audiences, in particular, embraced the film's fantastical vision, and it became one of the most popular films of the early 1900s in the United States. The film's appeal has endured for over a century, with modern audiences still finding wonder in Méliès's pioneering vision. The restored color version has introduced the film to new generations, with screenings at museums and film festivals consistently selling out.

You Might Also Like