It only runs for one minute, but this film is among Mélieès' most interesting works. We see a man who has a nightmare, which starts quite nice though as he dreams of a beautiful woman clad in a toga with curly black hair. The moment he wants to hug her, however, she transforms into a male banjo player and afterward into another man. As they finally disappeared the moon outside becomes huge and pretty scary, looks like the one from Méliès possibly most famous film. Finally the three dream creatures appear again and right afterward the dreamer wakes up, checks if there something under his pillow that was responsible for this nightmare and then goes back to sleep. Lots of action for just 60 seconds I know. Quite entertaining short film that may be a good choice to start with when you want to get into the age of silent movies.
12 Reviews
creepy and comic
framptonhollis27 July 2018
Silly and slightly scary, Méliès's somewhat minor one minute short 'A Nightmare' fits perfectly in with the rest of his filmography. It's a trick film, a comedy, a fantasy, a portrayal of a dream, and something of a horror film, if not in any conventional sense, all of which are genres/styles of film that Méliès so often loved to explore. The strange giant head that appears somewhere around the middle of this minute is simultaneously amusing and successfully creepy (and remains so to this day), add to that a cast of characters that includes an energetically dancing and mischievous clown and you have a film that gives off an atmosphere dominated by both humour and uneasiness.
Melies Combines Editing with Scene Changes.
CitizenCaine23 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
In some of his earlier films, Georges Melies used jump-cutting and/or freeze-framing to propel the action and/or change the scene. In this film, A Nightmare, Melies continues using the jump-cut technique, but he now combines this with changing the backdrops in each successive scene. A man has a nightmare, dreams of a clown, etc. until the moon itself is upon the man and trying to take a bite out of him. The moon is hopelessly made out of some cardboard or other such material flexing around from the way it's hung, but the film shows man interacting with his dreams and then returns him to reality at the end. Melies has begun film's fascination with fantasy and perhaps science fiction as well. *** of 4 stars.
Tricks within Dreams
Cineanalyst28 June 2009
This, "A Nightmare", is one of Georges Méliès's earliest films. It's one of his first films to feature a formula he would return to for many of his subsequent productions, from "The Bewitched Inn" (L'Auberge ensorcelée (1897)) to "The Black Imp" (Le Diable noir (1905)). The setup is simply a man trying to sleep despite nightmares or bizarre happenings to his surroundings (often, furniture and such moving, disappearing and appearing). These films provided Méliès with plenty of opportunities for his trick effects--mostly stop-substitutions (or substitution-splicing).
"A Terrible Night" (Une Nuit terrible (1896), an earlier film by Méliès, is the earliest available example of this genre, but that film didn't contain any filmic trick effects. Another previous film of his, "The Vanishing Lady" (1896), had stop-substitution tricks presented within a magic trick. "A Nightmare" features a different device to present its magic--that is, dreams. In later films, Méliès would also introduce fairies, malevolent wizards and other devices (i.e. science fiction and aliens in the case of the more elaborate "A Trip to the Moon") to present his trick effects, which allowed them to be at least within something resembling a narrative.
The most noteworthy of the dream images, I think, is the moon with a face, which bites the protagonist's hand. Méliès would again use the moon in such films as "The Astronomer's Dream" (1898) and "A Trip to the Moon" (1902). Additionally, this film contains five backdrop changes, all accomplished through editing, as with the character appearances and disappearances. The film was shot in the open air, as indicated by the shadows. The early history of film is scattered with knockoffs of Méliès's films; for example, one of the more popular early films remaining today, "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (1906) was clearly a product of this genre "A Nightmare" helped initiate.
"A Terrible Night" (Une Nuit terrible (1896), an earlier film by Méliès, is the earliest available example of this genre, but that film didn't contain any filmic trick effects. Another previous film of his, "The Vanishing Lady" (1896), had stop-substitution tricks presented within a magic trick. "A Nightmare" features a different device to present its magic--that is, dreams. In later films, Méliès would also introduce fairies, malevolent wizards and other devices (i.e. science fiction and aliens in the case of the more elaborate "A Trip to the Moon") to present his trick effects, which allowed them to be at least within something resembling a narrative.
The most noteworthy of the dream images, I think, is the moon with a face, which bites the protagonist's hand. Méliès would again use the moon in such films as "The Astronomer's Dream" (1898) and "A Trip to the Moon" (1902). Additionally, this film contains five backdrop changes, all accomplished through editing, as with the character appearances and disappearances. The film was shot in the open air, as indicated by the shadows. The early history of film is scattered with knockoffs of Méliès's films; for example, one of the more popular early films remaining today, "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" (1906) was clearly a product of this genre "A Nightmare" helped initiate.
Great for 1896
planktonrules6 September 2020
Georges Méliès
man asleep--woman, csinger, pierrot appear in bed...giant evil moon at end...three reapear to annoy him.
Awakens and they're all gone
"Le Cauchemar" is one of Georges Méliès' earliest films. Because of that, I'll cut it some slack. While his later films would usually be longer and more complex, for 1896, this one is truly amazing...far better than the output of any other filmmaker.
The story is simple. A man is tossing and turning. He then has a nightmare and a woman, then a guy playing a banjo and then Pierrot (from the Italian Commedia dell'arte) appear on the bed and annoy him. Finally, the moon grows to a huge size and threatens to eat him....and he awakens.
Again...this is a simple film but for 1896, it's truly spectacular...one of the best of the era.
"Le Cauchemar" is one of Georges Méliès' earliest films. Because of that, I'll cut it some slack. While his later films would usually be longer and more complex, for 1896, this one is truly amazing...far better than the output of any other filmmaker.
The story is simple. A man is tossing and turning. He then has a nightmare and a woman, then a guy playing a banjo and then Pierrot (from the Italian Commedia dell'arte) appear on the bed and annoy him. Finally, the moon grows to a huge size and threatens to eat him....and he awakens.
Again...this is a simple film but for 1896, it's truly spectacular...one of the best of the era.
Tossin' and Turnin'
wes-connors22 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
A bearded man tosses and turns during his sleep, which looks very uncomfortable. He appears to wake up to see an attractive woman sitting at the foot of his bed. He reaches out to embrace her, then she changes into a mistral singer, who jumps and sings on the bed. Next, the being changes into a clown who causes the moon outside to grow larger (or nearer) outside the man's window and bite his hand. Finally all three visitors appear, then not. "Le cauchemar" (The Nightmare) doesn't make a lot of sense. Maybe it has something to do with the man's bed being extremely uncomfortable. Better to sleep on the floor.
*** Le cauchemar (1896) Georges Melies
*** Le cauchemar (1896) Georges Melies
Elaborations
boblipton13 March 2008
Having discovered -- whether purposefully or, as the story would have us believe, accidentally -- the magical qualities of the cut and used it in the previous years ESCAMOTAGE D'UNE DAME CHEZ ROBERT-HOUDIN, Melies elaborated on it in this short in which a man suffers a series of terrible nightmares. As in the best of Melies, we can not only see his enormous creativity, but perceive his great sense of humor and appreciate his playfulness in the new medium. When they're doing Oscars for 1897, this gets my vote for best foreign film!
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.
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.
A Minute of Pandemonium
Tornado_Sam23 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
It's interesting to see how Méliès would carry certain themes and use them over and over again in different variations. Sometimes it was dismembered heads, sometimes scientists plotting to travel somewhere. This film, "A Nightmare", makes use of two different themes of the director's career: huge moon faces (although here it has ears, oddly) and people trying to get to sleep. But, as Méliès goes for humor here rather then relevancy, the results are pretty chaotic so it comes up as a series of random set changes, appearances, and transformations as a result. The viewer has no idea why the man dreams about the moon in the first place, since he isn't an astronomer as in "The Astronomer's Dream" where a different moon face is used; nor any insinuation he's racist when he dreams about the black minstrel; nor if he had a sour love experience when he dreams about the young woman in the toga. It obviously makes little sense, but that's probably why it's a dream in the first place.
Méliès probably didn't even have to paint any set designs for this film. The sets used for the dream sequences are derived straight from his "The House of the Devil" from the same year, and the backdrop for the interior of the man's room comes from "The Vanishing Lady" (also 1896). Méliès might not have made such a wise choice there, because when he wakes up, the backdrop is positioned a little off so you can see a different wall at the edge of the screen. What's more, it's pretty flimsy and almost falls right over when he touches it after he gets up.
The moon is pretty cool, however. Blatantly built out of cardboard, it has a nice jaw which chomps on the man's (the director's) hand. I can count at least three other films by Méliès that have gigantic moon faces: "The Astronomer's Dream" (1898), "A Moonlight Serenade" (1904, although it looks a lot like the one from "A Trip to the Moon"), and of course "A Trip to the Moon" itself (1902). While some may consider the moon here to be a horror image at first glance, Méliès was clearly trying to be humorous with his creation and amuse the audience. It is only the man, the one being made sport of here, who finds the experience terrifying. It's also unclear why the sets change to a medieval setting, so I suppose Méliès either didn't care to paint new sets (as I pointed out before, these here are reused) or he thought it'd add to the general confusion.
Confusing or not, "A Nightmare" is most definitely one of the best movies of the period. Needless to say, audiences obviously had never seen anything like it. Méliès had such a crazy imagination that no doubt whatever he comes up with is genuinely comical and enjoyably fun to see today. As stated before, I doubt he really ever meant to be horrific with anything in his career (except probably "Blue Beard" and "A Desperate Crime") so trick films such as these are not only well-executed in effects, but also include that wonderful sense of humor only Méliès could bring to the screen when playing his roles for the camera.
Méliès probably didn't even have to paint any set designs for this film. The sets used for the dream sequences are derived straight from his "The House of the Devil" from the same year, and the backdrop for the interior of the man's room comes from "The Vanishing Lady" (also 1896). Méliès might not have made such a wise choice there, because when he wakes up, the backdrop is positioned a little off so you can see a different wall at the edge of the screen. What's more, it's pretty flimsy and almost falls right over when he touches it after he gets up.
The moon is pretty cool, however. Blatantly built out of cardboard, it has a nice jaw which chomps on the man's (the director's) hand. I can count at least three other films by Méliès that have gigantic moon faces: "The Astronomer's Dream" (1898), "A Moonlight Serenade" (1904, although it looks a lot like the one from "A Trip to the Moon"), and of course "A Trip to the Moon" itself (1902). While some may consider the moon here to be a horror image at first glance, Méliès was clearly trying to be humorous with his creation and amuse the audience. It is only the man, the one being made sport of here, who finds the experience terrifying. It's also unclear why the sets change to a medieval setting, so I suppose Méliès either didn't care to paint new sets (as I pointed out before, these here are reused) or he thought it'd add to the general confusion.
Confusing or not, "A Nightmare" is most definitely one of the best movies of the period. Needless to say, audiences obviously had never seen anything like it. Méliès had such a crazy imagination that no doubt whatever he comes up with is genuinely comical and enjoyably fun to see today. As stated before, I doubt he really ever meant to be horrific with anything in his career (except probably "Blue Beard" and "A Desperate Crime") so trick films such as these are not only well-executed in effects, but also include that wonderful sense of humor only Méliès could bring to the screen when playing his roles for the camera.
No Sleep for This Guy!
Hitchcoc9 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I really like this one. Once again, the poor bearded man tries to get some shuteye. Unfortunately, he has a series of visions (dreams). The first is pleasant, a pretty young woman; but when he tries to embrace her, she turns into a black man with a banjo. That guy transforms into a clown, and finally a big dominating face. The pacing is very good and the thing is genuinely funny.
Cute and Bizarre
Rainey-Dawn12 July 2019
Forgotten dreams
chaos-rampant22 February 2012
An early dream from the first minutes of cinema. We might as well be looking at some of the first images not just captured from reality, but really dreamed up with light. Now it seems modest, naive, primitive, but what outlandish phantasmagoria it must have been at the time; how modern, vibrant, strange, new, dangerous, exhilarating to see this with 1896 eyes. Imagine. The 19th century.
A man is sleeping at his bed. A woman appears, he reaches out to touch her and she turns into a minstrel, into a giant moon - an emblematic Melies motif - into a dancing troupe at his balcony.
By now, we have devised many different ways of both issuing these visions and shifting them within the context of a story, many devices to dream. Watching this, you get the picture that it goes back much further, further back into magic lantern shows and cameras obscura. The point? To bring internal worlds to life, and has not changed 100 years later.
A man is sleeping at his bed. A woman appears, he reaches out to touch her and she turns into a minstrel, into a giant moon - an emblematic Melies motif - into a dancing troupe at his balcony.
By now, we have devised many different ways of both issuing these visions and shifting them within the context of a story, many devices to dream. Watching this, you get the picture that it goes back much further, further back into magic lantern shows and cameras obscura. The point? To bring internal worlds to life, and has not changed 100 years later.
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