Old Movie Review: Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902)

“Le Voyage Dans La Lune is widely recognised as the true beginning of Science Fiction cinema” (Tyson James Yates, 2012) It is also one of the earliest motion pictures created. The short film was directed by Georges Méliès who created over 500 films in his life time. The film “is rightfully considered one of the most important pieces in cinema history, itself inspired by HG Wells and Jules Verne” (IanWade, 2012) this is because it inspired so many films even some of today’s films.

Le Voyage Dans La Lune(1902)

Although there is no colour and sound it is still possible to get a sense of the character and the atmosphere in each scene, the plot line appeared simple and so was easy to follow. The film was set out in a very theatrical way; the sets were layered up in the similar way to theatre sets which are very linear, it was also similar to a theatre production because the camera stayed in the same position throughout the film, as if the camera represented the audiences angle of view of it was in fact a play.The set design for the film is very stylised and creates a decent perception of depth in the background. There were however a few areas that perhaps lack the realistic proportion although film was just starting out and the budget was most likely very small. When it came to the scene where the rocket was launched into the face of the moon the rocket seemed rather large in proportion, however later when the scientists emerged from the space craft it seemed incredibly tiny compared to the vast landscape of the moon. The sets have been designed with no knowledge of the moon but rather the expectations of what the moon could possibly be like. There was a lot of usage of film overlap where objects appear to appear and disappear; good usage of this was with the aliens turning to smoke.

“A Trip to theMoon paved the way for such filmic flights of fancy as The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars, as it proved that the seduction of the audience through special effects has roots deeper than the blockbusters of the Seventies.” (Allmovie, s.d)  

So with out this movie we wouldn't have gotten the wonderfully cheesy effects that we all know and love in the original Star Wars movies!