a Trip to the Moon-a Right Thought

I’ve always loved film! I especially find movies from the silent and black & white era of filmmaking, where they had to ‘paint’ an onscreen picture with limited tools at their disposal, interesting. I’ve always believed limitations, like the lack of sound or color in the case of classic movies, increases creativity. One iconic image that stayed with me from a very young age is a scene from the 1902 movie, a Trip to the Moon, where a spaceship crashes into the moon which has a human face. I’ve always found it to be so bizarre and even a little eerie but that image was burned into my memory ever since I saw it the first time and I do believe it gave birth to my love of all things weird and wonderful.

a Trip to the Moon, the 1902 Georges Méliès directed film’s plot had a group of scientists building a spaceship and having it shot from a canon, with them inside, to the moon in an attempt to explore it. They encounter some lunar inhabitants living beneath its surface from which they had to escape during the film’s final act. Even though it has a runtime of about only 13 minutes and a simple story it is still a fascinating piece of film history and it provides us with a window a 113 years in to the past.

The film’s best quality is its unique look and feel witch stood the test of time and is still striking, even when viewed today. The scenes where brought to life using beautifully painted backgrounds which have to be seen for yourself. In later years a hand-colored version was released but as with most things the original black & white version was the best and is by far my favorite.

Be sure to watch a Trip to the Moon below.