Synopsis
An astronomer has a terrifying dream.
1898 ‘La lune à un mètre’ Directed by Georges Méliès
An astronomer has a terrifying dream.
Sueños de un astrónomo, O Sonho do Astrônomo, La lune à un mètre. L'observatoire, la lune, Phoebé, Le rêve d'un astronome, Egy méterre a Hold, Astronomov san, The Astronomer's Dream; or, The Man in the Moon, Το Όνειρο του Αστρονόμου, Сон астронома, La lune à un mètre, Луна всего лишь в метре, 天文学家之梦, 달세계 여행, La luna a un metro, 天文学者の夢, A lua em um Metro
Melies' fascination with celestial bodies as dream invading, devouring, constantly masticating alien faces is still profoundly horrifying to this very moment and a truly singular cinematic obsession & i know it's probably trite to say, but i am equally obsessed with the stone castles, corridors, hallways, and suggestively labyrinthine structures in which so many of his fragments take place, and esp. here the dissolving wall thru which the grotesque moon escapes ::: some dark sky above a dark sea, the astronomer a kind of hermit wizard. the trappings fascinate me, as much as satan and ghosts in haunted castles. suggestion and dream.
The creepiest Moon I've ever seen! haha
The surreal dream of an astronomer told in a very humorous way! It might not make a lot of sense but it is absolutely fun to watch.
Unique stuff, like any other Georges Méliès film.
IMDb: 7.5
Release date: 1898
Distributor: Star-Film
SYNOPSIS: An astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
Melies' brilliant use of early special effects is what makes this classic three minute short so timeless. Melies, who also stars as the wizardly astronomer, also has brilliant comedic chops and timing which adds yet another layer of marvel of this early known masterpiece.
I loved the design of the moon effects set piece. Its both funny and incredible in its own right, especially when you pause and realize when it was created. This is yet another example of Melies genius and just how far ahead of the times he was in the realm of special…
Makes Kurbrick’s creepy twins look kinda lame just standing there in the hallway when they could have crawled up out of the mouth of the man in the moon like in this Méliès film…
This guy has made the most terrifying versions of the moon in any media. Get out of here, Majora's Mask. The French magician of cinema had serious issues with this piece of rock.
However, this serves as a prototype for his most popular and arguably greatest work, and is a continuation of his exercises of superimposed imagery and amazing theatrical attrezzo and performances to convey a pure form of entertainment and expression. This was an important stepping stone and it's unbelievable that the 20th Century hadn't even started. Props to the master.
94/100
The fact that this underseen Melies short film came out four years before 'A Trip to the Moon' making that film technically a sequel to this one (given that they both feature a large, anthropomorphic and emotional moon-man) is interesting as it kind of recontextualizes the journey in that more famous film from a bunch of explorers being jerks, to a bunch of scientists seeking VENGEANCE on a terrifying moonface that has a habit of playing terrifying mind games with them.
they should have titled this the astronomers nightmare bc that moon actually disturbed tf out of me
The movie is fantastic for the year 1898 . The movie is now more than 120 years old and looks fanatical for it. If you look at the movie from today's point of view, of course not particularly, but fanatical for this long time. This is the second film by Georges Méliès after "Trip to the Moon" and the films are very good for the time.