L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune

Hey guys! The moon is female. The scientists are all excited about an upcoming eclipse. A host of them bring their telescopes to report on and enjoy the event. The first part is the only interesting one. When the moon (which has a female face) goes in front of the Sun, there is some hanky panky going on. They react in a sexual manner. Yes, it certainly surprised me. The remainder of film created a galaxy of tiresome images. It isn't that they were poorly painted, but how many times have we seen a woman lounging on a crescent moon. It's kind of wild but repetitive.

I love the short films of Méliès, though in his day, a nine minute film like this one was actually considered "full length". They are wonderful for their clever writing, amazing and adorable sets, trick cinematography and coherence. While I am sure there are some out there who would disagree, I think his comedies of the 1900s are actually better and more watchable and amazing today than many of the comedies by Keystone of the 1910s. While Arbuckle and Chaplin's early stuff is very, very rough and almost plot less at times (it did improve), a full decade earlier Méliès was making wonderful gems like Le Voyage dans le Lune, Barbe-Bleue and this film.

While L'Éclipse du soleil en pleine lune isn't the best film he made, it certainly gets very high marks for its camera-work and its laughs (particularly at the end). So, even though it starts off kind of slow, stick with it--it definitely improves.

If you want to see this film online, go to Google and type in "Méliès" and then click the video button for a long list of his films that are viewable without special software.

The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon (1907)

*** (out of 4)

aka L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune

A professor (Georges Melies) is trying to teach some unruly students about astronomy and then we cut to the actual title of an eclipse followed by the meeting of stars. THE ECLIPSE is no where near the greatest work of Melies but I still found it to be an interesting film and especially for the special effects. I'm not sure if Melies was going for comedy during the school sequence but it's really not all that funny. I'm not exactly sure what the point was but perhaps Melies just saw some rude kids one day and decided to throw it in for good measure. The real fun starts once we get to space with the actual eclipse sequence looking very good and especially fun. Once again both the moon and sun are given faces and this certainly adds some charm to the picture. As other reviewers have pointed out, I'm not sure if it was Melies goal or not but the sexual nature of the second portion of the film is hard to miss.

An astronomer of age, wealth, and erudition conducts classes in his home. His students are not always respectful, and he suffers their pranks and high jinks. Then, at noon, everything darkens and the astronomer hurries upstairs to his telescope. It is an eclipse of the sun, and through his glass, he sees a female moon coming toward a masculine sun, flirting as they move closer to what becomes a consummation...

As others have noted, this is not Melies' best work. It is still a fine film, with more than its share of humor. And quality-wise, it has held up much better than "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) and looks as clean and clear as any modern film.

If possible, catch this film live. The patio in Chicago played it in April 2015 with Jay Warren on the organ. This completely changes the way the film is experienced when you get that in-house sound.

In this marvellous Melies fantasy, an eccentric astronomer is overwhelmed by excitement at the approaching eclipse. His students make fun of him initially but then become excited too as the moon approaches the sun.

Through the astronomer's telescope we see the man in the moon winking at the man in the sun. Both begin to lick their lips and wriggle their tongues with excitement as they draw closer together. Finally the sun goes behind the moon, and the man in the moon's face suggests orgasm!!

Finally they part again looking exhausted and satisfied. And the sky explodes in an orgy of sperm-like stars, each one carrying a scantily clad woman or man.

Surely this must be the first gay love scene ever put on film. It's hard to believe it's happening in a 1907 movie. You've gotta see it to believe it.

Great mix of gorgeous special effects, slapstick comedy and eroticism. One of Melies best!