A Conquista do polo

Conquest of the North Pole (1912)

aka Conquete du pole, La

*** (out of 4)

Georges Melies film that tries to rival his legendary A Trip to the Moon but doesn't come that close. A group of scientists try to determine a way to reach the North Pole. Once there they must do battle with a large ice monster. The stuff dealing with the ice monster was terrific and this creature is one of the best of Melies career.

In early 2008 there will be a box set released and will feature over 170 Melies' shorts.

It's been 16 years since director Georges Melies started making his illusionary, "trick" films. Over that time, he was able to fine-tune his craft, involving his special effects techniques, that he originally pioneered back in 1896. As we approach the twilight of his career, he was still using just a stationary camera. With his dazzling set pieces, he took audiences to fantastic worlds. In this film, Melies out-does himself with the spectacle of a Polar Giant, that terrorizes our Arctic explorers during an exciting climax. In what is a repeat of Melies many other films, crafted with a template that dazzled his audiences, explorers gather together to figure out their plans for a trip to the North Pole. Once all the members are happy, the race to the Pole begins.

This film suffers from being a little bit too long. It is Melies longest film he ever did. It also is a little top-heavy, with a dragged out, build-up, in the beginning and middle of the film, which does, eventually, culminate with a great ending. Once they arrive, the men run into all kinds of magical happenings, found in a wondrous world and built with a fantastic design. Melies design. It is 1912 and Melies builds a giant creature with a head bigger than five people. It's the amount of work done by Melies, that really endeared him to movie fans. The Arctic Giant is some of his best work. His pioneering spirit is what made him great. I just wish some of the scenes were a little bit tighter and not dragged out. Still, this film is a sight to see.

7.9 (B- MyGrade) = 8 IMDB.

Why one has to go into outer space to get to the North Pole is a question to ponder. Apparently, there were numerous expeditions going and the airship appears to be the one that succeeds. After forming diverse crew from several countries and throwing out the women, the air bus embarks on its journey. It goes past several constellations, including Scorpio and Pisces as well as Gemini. When the explorers finally get to the North Pole, there is really nothing to do. They run around and meet up with a monster and one of them gets eaten. Since they were from all countries, the monster got to choose between German, French, Chinese, Spanish, etc. This could have been played for laughs but wasn't. Anyway, it is all visual and the whole process of exploring is wasted. These guys really don't have a clue. As for Melies, he is still doing the same stuff.

The great French innovator finally seems to be running out of imagination here. Having invented cinema as we understand it today, he eventually had to exhaust his fount of inspiration.

This film could best be described as a remake of his "Voyage to the Moon" from 1902. Unfortunately much of the old vim is missing. Sequences run on for too long. At times the film seems more primitive than many of his earlier films.

Still, there was life in the old boy yet. The « géant des neiges » (giant of the snows) episode is quite good with a monster who swallows intrepid Arctic explorers whole. The ice giant is about as good an effect as Fafner the dragon in Fritz Lang's "Siegfried", and that film was made in 1924. There is a funny moment when the explorers reach the Earth's Magnetic Pole. They are attracted right onto the needle they find and get stuck there.

The long (too long) scene where the explorers in their airship fly past the signs of the zodiac reminded me strangely of what Dorothy sees from her window as she is caught in the tornado in "The Wizard of Oz". That would make Méliès nearly 30 years ahead of his time.

Nevertheless, I got the same impression I get with a lot of modern special effects films. Méliès was spending more money without necessarily expending more ingenuity. Perhaps he was only trying to imitate the lesser but more successful mortals who came after him.

Despite producing over 500 movies by 1912, Georges Melies, the early film pioneer credited as being the father of cinematic special effects, was under the dominance of Paris' Pathe Studios because of a contract he signed earlier. In what turned out to be his last movie he had total control over, May 1912's "The Conquest of the Pole" is ironically been labeled as his career masterpiece. The 30-minute film, Melies longest movie ever, describes the race to be the first to reach the North Pole.

Many cite "Conquest" as a remake of his 1902 classic "Trip to the Moon." Melies never quite departed from his stationary camera capturing his elaborate stage presentations. Because cinema had advanced greatly from his cutting-edge 1902 production, "Conquest" became a financial failure upon release. Audiences by that time were growing more accustomed to the Italian epics and outdoor dramas.

Melies' three remaining movies after "Conquest" under Pathe supervision were heavily edited. Soon after the contract expired, he was in debt and faced World War One, which proved disastrous for him. His family's beloved theater was taken away, bunches of his original films were confiscated by the French Army to be used for its silver content, and his wife died.

Bitter at his poverty years later, he burned crates of his films. He ended up working at a small toy and candy story in a Paris train station. In the late 1920's, Melies' films were rediscovered and his rightful position as a preeminent pioneer in early film was established. Martin Scorsese's 2011 "Hugo" placed Melies in today's spotlight for a younger generation to enjoy his films.

His legacy survives despite all the destruction of his films because of piracy, which had caused him so much distress at the lack of strict copyright laws overseas and had cost him so many unrealized francs. Two hundred of his films, out of over 560 that he produced, exist today and can be viewed. The amount is huge in silent movie cinema since so many early films have been destroyed and considered "lost."