Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueIn this spectacular free adaptation of the popular theatre play "La Biche au Bois", the valiant Prince Bel-Azor pursues a baleful old witch to her impregnable castle, to save the beautiful y... Tout lireIn this spectacular free adaptation of the popular theatre play "La Biche au Bois", the valiant Prince Bel-Azor pursues a baleful old witch to her impregnable castle, to save the beautiful young Princess Azurine.In this spectacular free adaptation of the popular theatre play "La Biche au Bois", the valiant Prince Bel-Azor pursues a baleful old witch to her impregnable castle, to save the beautiful young Princess Azurine.
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This is a great old short. The backgrounds are very intricate, fun and colorful. This is a perfect double feature with A Trip to the Moon (1903), especially if you're the kind of person that likes watching these extremely old films on youtube, like me.
This is another epic on the scale of Melies' earlier Voyage to the Moon but which lacks the iconic images of that film which is perhaps why it is now relatively unknown. Without a doubt it is every bit as interesting and fantastic as Voyage with elaborate sets and costumes and typically exuberant performances from the actors. One thing about Melies' films is that everyone up there on the screen looks like they're having a whale of a time - a fact which adds to the viewers' enjoyment. The story is a typical fairy tale with a noble prince braving all manner of obstacles to save his beloved from the clutches of a wicked witch. The acting is of the 'hands in the air to express surprise/shock/fear' variety, but in this case that just adds to the enjoyment.
Following on the heels of his hugely important A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès directed this feature. Like its predecessor it was another narrative film. It was one of several that the director made that fell into the fairy tale category. A princess is abducted by a witch and a gallant prince embarks on quest to save her. His adventure takes him to the ocean floor where he encounters fairies from the court of Neptune and is subsequently taken on a journey inside a giant whale. He then battles the witch and her minions in the final conflict.
There is a lot of great imagery here and it exists in a great colour tinted print. The fantastical underwater world is particularly nice. There are a lot of different sets for a film of this age. Many of them are quite elaborate and detailed. Like other films of the time it has no inter-titles, so it wouldn't be very easy knowing exactly what is going on without a narrator. Fortunately there are versions of this with a voice-over, which was how the feature was meant to be presented in any case. But even without this it is consistently very interesting visually and is a great little fantasy adventure. Méliès was easily the most important director of the earliest years of cinema and this feature quite clearly indicates why.
There is a lot of great imagery here and it exists in a great colour tinted print. The fantastical underwater world is particularly nice. There are a lot of different sets for a film of this age. Many of them are quite elaborate and detailed. Like other films of the time it has no inter-titles, so it wouldn't be very easy knowing exactly what is going on without a narrator. Fortunately there are versions of this with a voice-over, which was how the feature was meant to be presented in any case. But even without this it is consistently very interesting visually and is a great little fantasy adventure. Méliès was easily the most important director of the earliest years of cinema and this feature quite clearly indicates why.
Georges Méliès was a marvelous filmmaker who brought movies many innovations and tricks. However, over time his films have become mostly forgotten and many seem very outdated and quaint today. But, if you are patient, they are most enjoyable when you realize how different and innovative they were for the turn of the century. And, a few, like "Fairyland" are true classics.
When the story begins, some prince (Georges Méliès) becomes engaged to a princess. But an evil witch sneaks into the palace with her imps and kidnaps the woman. So it's up to the prince to go on a grand adventure to find his betrothed and teach the wicked witch a lesson. To help him are some fairies and even King Neptune!
This is a cute and clever movie...made better by some gorgeous hand-painted cels. The overall effect is really nice and the 17 minute story seems more like a full-length movie (which it was back in 1903) than a quick short film. Well worth seeing and among the filmmaker's best.
When the story begins, some prince (Georges Méliès) becomes engaged to a princess. But an evil witch sneaks into the palace with her imps and kidnaps the woman. So it's up to the prince to go on a grand adventure to find his betrothed and teach the wicked witch a lesson. To help him are some fairies and even King Neptune!
This is a cute and clever movie...made better by some gorgeous hand-painted cels. The overall effect is really nice and the 17 minute story seems more like a full-length movie (which it was back in 1903) than a quick short film. Well worth seeing and among the filmmaker's best.
"Kingdom of the Fairies" is undoubtedly one of Georges Méliès's best féeries, or fairy films, alongside other such ones as "Blubeard" (1901) and, if you want to consider it as part of the genre, "Le Voyage dans la lune" (1902). It is also one of his best films in general. Its narrative follows the abduction of a princess by a wicked fairy/witch, and her subsequent rescue by the prince (played by Méliès)--an adventure which takes the prince and his men to the depths of the sea, where they meet the kingdom of the fairies, ride inside a whale to shore, and to the eventual rescue of the damsel from a burning castle. This was one of the most elaborate Star Film productions, with 20 some changes of scenery, a requirement of many costumes, and a runtime nearing 20 minutes.
Méliès consistently produced the best movie set designs of his era, but the ones in this film especially stand out, including the undersea design and the burning and collapsing castle. Even the miniature model scene of the ship sinking works, because, after all, it's fantasy. The aspect, however, that I particularly appreciate in these fairytale films is their frequent use of the fairy as a narrator, or manipulator of the characters and plot. Another good example of this can be seen in "Bluebeard", as well as in films by others, such as "The Magic Sword" (1901) and "Jack and the Beanstalk" (1902). One scene in "Kingdom of the Fairies" is especially remarkable: it's a vision scene projected by the wicked fairy to the prince and involves the changing of the scenery from the castle room to the vision and back to the castle room.
(EDIT: The hand-colored print now available on home video makes this film look even better.)
Méliès consistently produced the best movie set designs of his era, but the ones in this film especially stand out, including the undersea design and the burning and collapsing castle. Even the miniature model scene of the ship sinking works, because, after all, it's fantasy. The aspect, however, that I particularly appreciate in these fairytale films is their frequent use of the fairy as a narrator, or manipulator of the characters and plot. Another good example of this can be seen in "Bluebeard", as well as in films by others, such as "The Magic Sword" (1901) and "Jack and the Beanstalk" (1902). One scene in "Kingdom of the Fairies" is especially remarkable: it's a vision scene projected by the wicked fairy to the prince and involves the changing of the scenery from the castle room to the vision and back to the castle room.
(EDIT: The hand-colored print now available on home video makes this film look even better.)
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesA clip of this film is featured in Hugo Cabret (2011).
- ConnexionsFeatured in Chuck: Chuck Versus the Balcony (2011)
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Détails
- Durée
- 16min
- Mixage
- Rapport de forme
- 1.33 : 1
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