Le génie du feu

A couple in some Arabian place come across the entrance to a ruin. A man outside implores them to stay out. He know that trouble awaits anyone who enters. Of course, the couple can't resist and find themselves surrounded by all manner of weird thing, including some monkey men with sharp teeth. By staying there, they are soon forced to witness a kind of fire goblet that takes away their eyesight. When they leave the building, they are in despair. The conclusion is a bit trite.

This piece marks a return to form for Melies' story films after several comparatively weak ones in 1907 -- he seems to have been concentrating on the business end of things and leaving matters in the hands of subordinates while Pathe and Gaumont were spending money to eat up his market. Here, however, we have his amazing compositions, back flats that have full dimensionality and some truly fantastic images -- he seems to have added purer tableaux technique to his shots. But how much longer could he stand off the better-financed studios?

This is one of the many previously lost or infrequently seen Melies pictures that have been made available by Serge Bromberg, David Shepherd and a myriad of other hands in the newly issued DVD set GEORGES MELIES: FIRST WIZARD OF CINEMA. Required viewing for anyone interested in the history of movies ..... and a lot of fun.

"The Genii of Fire" begins in the Middle East long ago. A couple come upon a cave and want to enter but the old man outside of it warns them not to go. Of course, being idiots, they go inside and suffer the consequences...blindness! Can their sight ever be restored? And, will they stop going into places when they are told not to?!

As was sometimes the case, there's a bit of overactig going on here...and some dancing which seems out of place. Well, Georges Méliès oftne had dancing in his films for no apparent reason! And, like some of his other films, it also has stuff appearing and disappearing in order to wow audiences.

Is it any good? Well, by today's standards no. But for 1908 it's pretty good...even with the overacting ad silly plot. Not among the filmmaker's best but worth seeing...particularly if you are a fan of his work.

The Genii Of Fire (1908)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

aka Le génie du feu

A couple people come to visit a genie in his lair and soon he begins to do tricks. The first is making a fire appear out of no where and then he turns this fire into a man before bringing forward a spirit. THE GENII OF FIRE is another trick film from Georges Melies and while it's entertaining from start to finish there's still no question that this is miles from the director's best work. The special effects here are actually pretty good and even though you can still tell how they were done, they're charming enough in their own way to where you can still enjoy them. The biggest problem is that we've seen so many great trick films from Melies that when you see something like this it just has a familiar tone to it and there's no question that nothing new is being done here. Still, fans of the director will want to check it out but those new to Melies will probably want to start somewhere else.