When you watch the earliest silent films, you really need to adjust your expectations. What might seem like a very inconsequential film today might have been a huge hit and innovative title in its day. That's how it often is with the films of the French filmmaker and animator, Émile Cohl. With "Transfigurations", you have a very short film (actually about typical length for its time) with very simple animation (actually, among the best and only animation of its time)--but it still manages to make you smile today.
The film begins with a showman getting folks to look into his machine that foretells the future. This is done using pictures and animations and in the first three cases, the customers are VERY unhappy with what they are shown. However, the fourth asks to see his mother-in-law as she really is--and he is in full agreement with what the machine reveals. Kind of cute.
The film begins with a showman getting folks to look into his machine that foretells the future. This is done using pictures and animations and in the first three cases, the customers are VERY unhappy with what they are shown. However, the fourth asks to see his mother-in-law as she really is--and he is in full agreement with what the machine reveals. Kind of cute.
