A Sereia

This short silent film is part of the DVD collection entitled "The Magic of Méliès" and is the fourth volume of THE MOVIES BEGIN series from Kino Video. Unlike copies of Méliès' films that are posted on the internet, the prints for these short films are exceptionally crisp and clean and feature wonderful musical scores. Oddly, though, is that aside from a few films such as THE BLACK IMP and THE IMPOSSIBLE VOYAGE, most of the shorts chosen for this DVD are actually not among the best of Méliès' films--having a strong tendency to show is "stagy" material as opposed to the films that have elaborate sets and plots. In particular, my favorites such as BARBE-BLEUE and LE VOYAGE DANS LE LUNE (his most famous film) are not on this DVD.

This is a pretty dull film, as much of it is simply a movie of Méliès performing magic tricks. In person this might be interesting, but on film (where it's no trick to use camera tricks to make a magician seem great), it just doesn't impress. Then, when the mermaid enters the picture, she is pretty sloppily integrated compared to the camera tricks in many of the director's other short films. All in all, among the worst and least inspiring films of this film genius and pioneer.

In this silent-era black-and-white film, Georges Méliès showcases his stage magician roots by performing a series of tricks with a hat-primarily pulling out various animals, including several fish and a rabbit. The objects he conjures become increasingly large and elaborate, culminating in the appearance of a mermaid.

From there, the story shifts into a fantastical sequence where the mermaid transforms into a human and back again, now accompanied by the magician, who transforms himself into the King of Atlantis. In many ways, the second half of the film feels like a surreal precursor to modern aquatic fantasies-imagine a blend of Aquaman and Disney's recent adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

While the tricks may no longer surprise today's viewers, they are impressive examples of the creativity and innovation that early filmmakers like Méliès brought to the screen to captivate their audiences.

There's something a bit 'samey' about this four minute short from French wizard Georges Melies. It takes place on a stage containing an aquarium from which Melies scoops water which he deposits into an upturned top hat. Melies then proceeds to fish in the hat, placing his catches in the aquarium. Later, he pulls rabbits from the same hat before placing the aquarium centre-stage and closing in on it so that we can see the mermaid living inside it.

Although the use of trick photography throughout means a lot of preparation and planning must have gone into the film's making, it has the feel of being thrown together. Melies changes from a well-dressed magician to a rustic looking tramp and back again for no apparent reason and the rabbit trick seems pointless, wandering, as it does, from the aquatic theme of the rest of the film.

This Georges Méliès short feature has some pretty good visual effects once it gets going. Some of the special effects are very familiar from other Méliès features, but there is also some original material that is at times quite creative.

As do a number of Méliès films, this one starts with a stage performer doing a routine. This part of it is rather bland, and although there are a couple of interesting tricks, it is really only a preface to the main sequence underwater, which is thematically set up by some tricks with fish.

Once it gets to the actual "Mermaid" sequence, the movie really hits its stride. There are a couple of times when the camera tricks are a bit obvious, and maybe not quite up to Méliès's usual standard, but most of the other shots are rather nice. As it goes along, the visuals get more elaborate and more creative, so it's worth watching all the way through despite the slow start.

Mermaid, The (1904)

*** (out of 4)

aka La Sirène

Once again Melies plays a magician who fills up an aquarium tank only to put some of the water into his top hot where he then goes fishing. The second part of the film deals with the title character who also appears out of no where. This is a pretty good little film that manages to have some nice laughs and some very good trick shots. Some of the special effects are obvious but there are others, like the one on one fishing scenes, that hold up very, very well. The mermaid stuff I didn't care too much for but the visual beauty is certainly there.