The Rajah's Dream or The Bewitched Wood
About The Rajah's Dream or The Bewitched Wood
A rajah settles down to sleep, and a large butterfly drives him out of bed with a net. The room vanishes and he is in a park, where a chair keeps sliding away, turns into a dead tree, then into a grinning monster and a demon. A woman appears, then more women, who dance him off his feet, chase him, and return in bits of armor with axes. An executioner is about to behead him when he wakes, beating his pillow.
Cast & crew
More about The Rajah's Dream or The Bewitched Wood
Georges Méliès released this trick film in 1900. The French title is Le rêve du radjah ou La forêt enchantée. Some prints were hand-colored and sold at a higher price, a practice Méliès used on a small share of his catalogue.
Themes
Music
Silent.
Notes
- The English title on this file also carries the alternate The Bewitched Wood.
- The chair, the tree, and the demon are successive substitutions in one park set.
- He kneels to the first woman, then a line of dancers knocks him down.
- The beheading is the last image before the pillow.
Scenes
- The chair slides away each time he tries to sit.
- Women in scraps of armor beat him with axes.
- He wakes already hitting the pillow.
