A Trip to the Moon
1902
Director: George Melies
Of all early primitive films, A Trip to the Moon is perhaps the best remembered and the most well loved. It has an image that is incredibly well known and several others that are only slightly less well known, and has been referenced dozens of times by everything from The Simpsons to Smashing Pumpkins. The simple plot involves a scientist (or president, or wizard – in any case, some authority figure) deciding to take a trip to the moon. He enlists five helpers. A rocket shoots them to the moon (cue super-famous shot) where they encounter strange sights, including a grotto filled with magical mushrooms and dangerous moon warriors, the Selenites. After narrowing escaping, the explorers return home.
There is a lot here that will appeal to a modern film viewer if they have just a touch of patience. The greatest aid to its palatability is the fact that A Trip to the Moon is pure spectacle. For the little bit of film history I know, I think this is one of the earliest example of a film showing you something that you just plain couldn’t see in real life. This was not a recording of an every day event – this is perhaps the furthest from an every day event you can possibly get! That’s, ultimately, the charm of this film. It’s showy, it’s whimsical, it’s completely ridiculous, but how many other films do we know like that? Hundreds, if not thousands. This is the one that started them all.
