Voyage Dans La Lune, Le

Georges Méliès was a professional magician and a pioneer of special effects in cinema, \ being one of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted colour in his films. He directed an amazing 531 films, some as short as one minute, between 1896 and 1914, Le Voyage Dans La Lune, being the most famous. 

One of the earliest-known science fiction films it is a remarkable achievement full of conceptual and visual invention in the Jules Verne tradition and displaying impressive technical skill. After finishing work on the film, Méliès intended to release it in America however Edison's film technicians had already secretly made copies of the film, which was shown across the USA within weeks. Mélies never made any money from the film's American showings and went broke several years later, his business eventually being absorbed by the Pathé Frères organization.

The French Army seized most of his stock to melt down into boot heels during World War I whilst many of his other films were sold to be recycled into new film. Fortunately Méliès' pioneering brilliance was recognized by the French Government which awarded him the Légion d'Honneur.

FYI:  In 2002 a print of the film was discovered in a barn in France that not only is it the most complete cut of the film but was entirely hand-coloured.

 

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