The bullet-ship in the moon's eye.
#1. A Trip to the Moon (le voyage dans la lune)
- Year: 1902
- Country: France
- Production: Star, 14m B&W Silent
- Director: Georges Méliès
- Producer: Georges Méliès
- Screenplay: Georges Méliès, from the novel by Jules Verne
- Photography: Michaut, Lucien Tainguy
- Cast: Victor André, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet, Jeanne d'Alcy, Henri Delannoy, Georges Méliès
- Blog Club Rating: 8.2/10
- Also the first movie
Abridged Book Description[]
When thinking about A Trip to the Moon, one's mind is quickly captured by the original and mythic idea of early filmmaking as an art whose "rules" were established in the very process of its production. This French movie was released in 1902 and represents a revolution for the time, given its length (approximately 14 minutes), as compared to the more common two-minute short films produced at the beginning of last century. A Trip to the Moon directly reflects the histrionic personality of its director, Georges Méliès, whose past as a theater actor and magician influences the making of the movie. The film boldly experiments with some of the most famous cinematic techniques, such as superimpositions, dissolves, and editing practices that would be widely used later on. Despite the simplicity of its special effects the film is generally considered the first example of science-fiction cinema. It offers many elements characteristic of the genre - a spaceship, the discovery of a new frontier - and establishes most of its conventions... Méliès here creates a movie that deserves a legitimate place among the milestones in world cinema history... The first true science-fiction film cannot be missed by a spectator looking for the origins of those conventions that would later influence the entire genre and its most famous entries.