Barbe-bleue

Like many of the classic films of Georges Méliès, 'Bluebeard' is groundbreaking, surprising, and filled with fun camera tricks and special effects magic, and it is also, no doubt, one of his darkest films. It's one of the earliest horror films ever made, and it gets pretty wild, particularly towards the end in which Méliès just fills the screen with action and suspense and special effects and death and ghosts and so on and so on.

The first portion of the film is actually fairly comedic, which makes how bizarre and tense it gets later on all the more surprising, shocking, and uniquely amusing/entertaining. Much of the comedy is in the common vaudevillian and slapstick vein Méliès's films, whether they be science fiction, romance, fantasy, etc., often indulge in. It helps set a tone that is harshly shifted by the end in a very enjoyable and fun way.

Of course, it gets better once it becomes a full blown horror film. Images of hanging women and keys that grow and shrink and spirits and an extremely energetic devil come and go and it's surreal and extremely impressive for the time. Méliès experiments with the overlaying of images atop other images, an effect we now take very much for granted, in a very thrilling nightmare sequence, and the jump cut tricks and theatrical bursts of smoke are very much in the vein of many of Méliès's other fantastical shorts.

this movie has great backgrounds from the castle,the greatest moment is a real horror moment when the woman goes into the forbidden room and finds the hanged 7 ladies all former wives of bluebeard,another great moment is when the woman sleeps and dreams when the ghosts of the 7 dead wives and the dancing keys appears.

Film historians, like Richard Abel, sometimes split most of the films of Georges Méliès into two categories: the trick films, which are the shorter, generally one-scene films that are entirely about the attraction of the special effects, and the féeries, or fairy films, which are longer, narrative films, fantastic in their subjects, and with multiple tableaux. "Bluebeard" is obviously one of the féeries. Characteristic of the genre, it even has a fairy that manipulates the characters, including their dreams, and the plot of the film. Later films that are often considered fairy films (or fantasy films), such as "Le Voyage dans la lune" (1902), don't involve a fairy to such an extent. Méliès began making these longer narrative films by 1899, beginning with "Cinderella" (Cendrillon). As with "Cinderella" and about every story film of his, Méliès uses the tableaux vivant style, dissolves to transition between the single-shot scenes and studio sets for a theatrical style of narrative. Exhibitors also tended to rely upon the extra-filmic lecturer (which was common then even for non-narrative films, but they became especially useful in aiding audiences in following complex narratives such as this one). Méliès would even provide exhibitors with the narration for the lecturers--including story details that would otherwise be uncertain or unknown. In addition, as with "Cinderella", "Bluebeard" is based on a story by Charles Perrault. Other filmmakers would eventually create more cinematic story films, but at first, they would imitate Méliès's féeries, but with their own regional influences, such as in Robert W. Paul's "The Magic Sword" (1901) and Edwin S. Porter's "Jack and the Beanstalk" (1902). Pathé was also quick to imitate all things Méliès and to try to take over his market.

On its own, "Bluebeard", at ten scenes, is an elaborate production for its time when compared to the short films of often only one shot that continued to coexist with the development of these story films. Méliès would even continue to make both kinds of films. Additionally, although stagy, the set designs by Méliès were the best in filmdom at the time. The film's story is also very good for a Méliès production, including two rather macabre scenes. I especially appreciate the demon, or devil, and fairy characters. They both watch over Bluebeard's wife; the demon, or devil, tempts her into danger, while the fairy protects her against harm. In the dream scene, they both control the wife's superimposed dream images above her. The fairy's control of the narrative reappears in the aforementioned "The Magic Sword" and "Jack and the Beanstalk", as well as in other Méliès films such as "Kingdom of the Fairies" (1903)--reaffirming its centrality to the fairy film.

I don't know the story of Bluebeard, so this ten minute motion picture is my first introduction. I could gather that he was wealthy and wanted to marry a recalcitrant woman. She reluctantly agreed and was given a huge wedding feast. After the wedding Bluebeard bestowed upon her the keys to his castle--and they were many--essentially telling her that the entire estate was at her disposal, except for one room. One room he made a big show about being off limits, then, laughably, he gave her the key to that room. So what do you think she did?

Of course, she entered the room where she saw the corpses (I'm assuming) of former wives.

I'm intrigued. I now must read the story of Bluebeard.

Free on YouTube.

Georges Melies writes, directs and stars in his retelling of the Charles Perrault classic BLUEBEARD. Melies stars as the title character Bluebeard who is looking for his eighth wife. The previous seven have died under mysterious circumstances. When he finds his wife (Jeanne d'Alcy who interestingly later married Melies in real life until his death in 1938) he goes off on a journey, but leaves the key to the castle with the new wife. In turn she finds the dirty secret Bluebeard has been hiding and he returns to exact some revenge.

When first watching the film in the 1st act you might be thinking this is a comedy, but when the 2nd act opens you should be aware that the tone of the film is horror. The music to the version I watched was great as it added joy, tension and terror when needed. The sets are good as well as they never seem to get boring or over used. In the public domain so should be easy to find.