"The Exposition of 1900" is a documentary film about this world's fair in Paris...and is quite a departure in style from other pictures by Georges Méliès. Normally, his stories involve magic and fanciful things...but this one is grounded in reality.
The film is like others of the time in that the camera mostly is stationary. However, in a big departure for the day, in a few scenes the camera does move--such as when they are showing the Eiffel Tower by slowly moving the camera upwards. It also features a few dissolves when one scene switches to another. While these all seem pretty normal, for 1900 this was impressive. It's really a shame then that the print is in such lousy shape. The image is fuzzy and badly in need of restoration. The film also is a bit disappointing as it doesn't spend much time showing the various pavilions and wonders...mostly a lot of crowd scenes. Still, it is an invaluable look at the fair and life in Paris 120 years ago....and for historical reasons, it's well worth preserving. Let's hope someone decides to restore it, at least in part, to its original glory.
The film is like others of the time in that the camera mostly is stationary. However, in a big departure for the day, in a few scenes the camera does move--such as when they are showing the Eiffel Tower by slowly moving the camera upwards. It also features a few dissolves when one scene switches to another. While these all seem pretty normal, for 1900 this was impressive. It's really a shame then that the print is in such lousy shape. The image is fuzzy and badly in need of restoration. The film also is a bit disappointing as it doesn't spend much time showing the various pavilions and wonders...mostly a lot of crowd scenes. Still, it is an invaluable look at the fair and life in Paris 120 years ago....and for historical reasons, it's well worth preserving. Let's hope someone decides to restore it, at least in part, to its original glory.
