The image of the shell penetrating the eye of the moon is part of our collective memory, but its author remains relatively unknown. Georges Méliès holds a major place in the history of cinema as he was, shortly after the invention of the Lumière brothers, the first to bring the 7th art towards fiction and special effects. A tribute is finally paid to this brilliant precursor at the Cinémathèque française through the new space of the Méliès Museum.
We all come from Méliès!
The dreamy and magical worlds of Burton and del Toro, the inventive special effects of Lucas, Spielberg and Cameron, or the poetic bricolages of Gondry and Anderson: by combining science and magic and exploring the new imagination offered by the cinematograph, Méliès cleared the way for everything that still makes cinema the most popular art form in the world today.
A technical virtuoso (he invented the film studio and had his own printing laboratory), Georges Méliès was also a complete artist: scriptwriter, set designer, costume designer, actor... He managed everything on the 520 films he directed, even the production and distribution!
By constantly experimenting, this inventor of a new genre bequeathed to his grateful successors - such as Martin Scorsese who pays tribute to his creative genius in his film Hugo Cabret - knowledge in directing (narration, camera stops, fade-ins and fade-outs, editing tricks...) and in special effects (pyrotechnics, animated models, overprints, sound effects...).
It was therefore high time that a museum was finally dedicated to the precursor of modern cinema!
The Cinematheque has incredible collections: pioneering devices in the history of moving images such as magic lanterns, image boxes and optical views from the 18th and 19th centuries, models, costumes and sets of mythical films (the mantle of the Grand Budapest Hotel to name but one) or even manuscripts of major works (e.g. the original storyboards of the first Star Wars).
With the Méliès Museum, these precious archives have been enriched with exceptional pieces linked to the inventor of cinematographic enchantment: his table and magician's cape, a model of his studio and of the bird-headed aircraft from Journey to the Impossible, his camera, numerous original drawings and nearly 150 photographs. The 300 new square meters dedicated to the French filmmaker finally offer a glimpse of his films, the best known of course, but also, among those that have come down to us (only about half of his prolific work), some much rarer ones that should to discover.
What man in our time could live without enchantment,
without a little dream?
Even if the Méliès Museum allows you to dive into the prehistory of cinema, it does not forget the new technologies of sound and image with, in particular, 2 virtual reality helmets (designed by Ubisoft) inviting you to enter the studio of Georges Méliès or a "jukebox of special effects" allowing you to discover all the ones he invented and how they have since been perfected by other directors.
A marvelous, fun and interactive exploration for film lovers and amateurs alike who, more than 80 years after his death, will be able to marvel at the audacity of the poetic illusionist in a building created by another great creator, the contemporary architect Franck Gehry.
Valérie from Comme des Français
Stay with other great French creators:
- A Brief History of the Lumière Brothers
- The pioneer of street-art
- In the footsteps of Jules Verne in Amiens
Photo credits: ©Musée Méliès ©La Cinémathèque française
