This short silent film is part of the DVD collection entitled "The Magic of Méliès" and is the fourth volume of THE MOVIES BEGIN series from Kino Video. Unlike copies of Méliès' films that are posted on the internet, the prints for these short films are exceptionally crisp and clean and feature wonderful musical scores. Oddly, though, is that aside from a few films such as THE BLACK IMP and THE IMPOSSIBLE VOYAGE, most of the shorts chosen for this DVD are actually not among the best of Méliès' films--having a strong tendency to show is "stagy" material as opposed to the films that have elaborate sets and plots. In particular, my favorites such as BARBE-BLEUE and LE VOYAGE DANS LE LUNE (his most famous film) are not on this DVD.
While compared to other movies being made at the time this is a very good film, for fans of Méliès it is a major let-down--as the plot is practically non-existent and as a result the film is rather dull but with pretty imagery and cinematography. Plus, on top of that, the film appears stagy--much like a stage performance of Méliès that has been filmed and enhanced through trick cinematography.
While compared to other movies being made at the time this is a very good film, for fans of Méliès it is a major let-down--as the plot is practically non-existent and as a result the film is rather dull but with pretty imagery and cinematography. Plus, on top of that, the film appears stagy--much like a stage performance of Méliès that has been filmed and enhanced through trick cinematography.