The Rajah's Dream or The Bewitched Wood

Plot

The film begins with a Sultan reclining on an ornate cushioned couch in his palace chambers. As he drifts into sleep, the scene magically transforms to an enchanted forest setting outside his palace grounds. In this bewitched wood, the Sultan encounters various supernatural beings and magical occurrences, including dancing spirits, transforming trees, and mystical apparitions that appear and disappear through Méliès' signature special effects. The dream sequence becomes increasingly fantastical as the woodland spirits interact with the sleeping Sultan, creating a whimsical and otherworldly atmosphere. The film concludes with the Sultan awakening back on his couch, leaving the audience to wonder whether the magical events were merely a dream or truly occurred in the enchanted wood.

Historical Background

This film was created during the pioneering era of cinema, just five years after the Lumière brothers' first public screening in 1895. The year 1900 marked the Paris Exposition Universelle, a world's fair that celebrated the achievements of the 19th century and looked forward to the innovations of the 20th. Cinema was still transitioning from novelty to art form, and Méliès was at the forefront of developing narrative storytelling and special effects techniques. The film emerged during a period of intense colonial interest in exotic Eastern themes, reflected in its choice of a Sultan as protagonist. This was also the year before Méliès's most famous work 'A Trip to the Moon' (1902), placing it during his most creative period.

Making Of

The production took place in Méliès's innovative glass-walled studio in Montreuil, which allowed natural lighting while protecting the elaborate sets from weather. The forest setting was created using theatrical flats and painted backdrops, with artificial trees constructed on wheeled platforms for easy movement. The transformation effects were achieved through careful editing and multiple exposure techniques that Méliès pioneered. Actors were likely recruited from Méliès's regular troupe of performers from the Théâtre Robert-Houdin. The hand-coloring process, when used, was performed by women workers in a specialized department of the Star Film studio, applying colors directly to each film frame using tiny brushes.

Visual Style

The film employs Méliès's characteristic theatrical cinematography with a static camera positioned to capture the entire proscenium-like set. The visual style emphasizes the painted backdrops and stage-like composition, reflecting Méliès's background in theater. The camera work includes multiple exposure techniques to create ghostly apparitions and substitution splices for sudden appearances and disappearances. The enchanted forest setting utilizes forced perspective to create depth within the limited studio space. Lighting was likely provided by natural sunlight through the glass studio roof, supplemented by reflectors to highlight the magical effects. The color versions featured hand-tinting that emphasized the supernatural elements with blues and greens for the forest scenes and golds for the Sultan's palace.

Innovations

The film showcases several of Méliès's pioneering special effects techniques, including multiple exposure for creating ghostly figures, substitution splices for sudden transformations, and dissolves for scene transitions. The dream sequence allowed for particularly creative use of these effects, as the dream context justified impossible visual events. Méliès's use of painted backdrops and theatrical set design demonstrated how stage techniques could be adapted for cinema. The film contributed to the development of continuity editing through its clear narrative progression from the Sultan's bedroom to the enchanted wood. The hand-coloring process, while labor-intensive, showed early attempts at adding color to moving images.

Music

As a silent film, it would have been accompanied by live musical performance during exhibition. Typical accompaniment might have included popular music of the era, classical pieces, or improvised piano music. The exotic theme suggested the use of 'Oriental' or 'Turkish' style music that was popular in Paris at the time. Some theaters employed small orchestras or ensembles to provide more elaborate accompaniment. The magical transformations would have been emphasized with musical cues and sound effects created by the theater's sound effects specialist. No original score was composed specifically for the film, as was standard practice for early cinema.

Memorable Scenes

• The magical transformation from the Sultan's palace to the enchanted forest, achieved through a sophisticated dissolve effect that was groundbreaking for 1900
• The appearance of dancing spirits in the woods who materialize and dematerialize using multiple exposure techniques
• The final awakening scene where the Sultan returns to reality, leaving the audience to question the nature of the magical events

What Critics Said

Contemporary trade publications praised the film's spectacular effects and imaginative content. The British journal 'The Optical Magic Lantern Journal and Photographic Enlarger' noted Méliès's 'ingenious manipulation of subjects' in their review of his 1900 productions. American film catalogues described it as 'a most curious and entertaining subject' recommending it for its novelty value. Modern film historians recognize it as a representative example of Méliès's early fantasy style, though it receives less attention than his more famous works like 'A Trip to the Moon'. Film scholar Ezra Goodman has noted that such dream sequences in early cinema helped establish the psychological dimension of film narrative.

What Audiences Thought

Early cinema audiences were captivated by the film's magical transformations and exotic setting. The dream sequence format was particularly popular as it allowed for impossible events that could be justified by the dream context. Theater programmers often included such Méliès fantasies in mixed programs to provide variety from actuality films and comedies. The hand-colored versions commanded higher admission prices and were particularly sought after by upscale venues. Contemporary audience reactions, as reported in trade papers, emphasized the 'wonder and amazement' at the disappearing and reappearing figures. The film's short length made it ideal for the rapidly changing programs of early cinema exhibitions.

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