Frenchman Georges Méliès is one of the most significant pioneers of cinema. The maker of over 400 short films, his crowning achievement is Le Voyage dans la Lune, the first science fiction film ever made, which still manages to impress 100 years on with its singularly bizarre aesthetic and remarkable special effects. Produced on an astronomical budget (for the time) of 10,000 francs, it is unmistakably the vision of an uncompromising auteur: Méliès wrote, starred in, directed, filmed and produced it, as well as designing the surreal, complex sets and costumes. An ex-stage magician, Méliès’ illusory talents are at the top of their game: the sets play tricks with perspective, seemingly merging 3D actors with a 2D plane. The film’s most enduring image is that of the spacecraft lodged in the eye of the Man in the Moon, but it also deserves commendation for being a masterly showcase of composition. Each frame is full of movement and often swathed in fire, water, smoke or snow, making it an admirable and hugely influential showcase of the possibilities of a developing art form. Unfortunately for Méliès, rampant piracy of the film (partially compounded by Thomas Edison) meant that he never achieved the financial success he deserved in his lifetime. His work, however, lives on, inspiring filmmakers from Stanley Kubrick to Nick Park.
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