The Lilliputian Minuet (1905) User Reviews

The End of the Act

[boblipton · 6/10 · 15 March 2008]

At the moment just the last ten seconds of this Melies magic act survive: it looks like he produces some cards, makes them grow and sets the enlarged but still small court cards dancing. A lovely little act and typical for Melies in this period in between the big story films like Gulliver and VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE,he made dozens of these, all a lot of fun to people who like stage magic.

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.

Helped Him Hone His Miniatures

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 16 November 2017]

Since this is only part of a film, it's hard to really give much of a response. Based on watching well over a hundred Melies shorts, I thought what I saw was well done. He has dealt with little figures in the past. This is a dance sequence, but had they not been contrasted to full size people, it would have been boring.

The Lilliputian Minuet (Melies)

[Michael_Elliott · 20 March 2010]

Lilliputian Minuet, The (1905)

Fragment

aka Le Menuet lilliputien

Sadly most of this Melies film is now lost and all that remains (a little over 50-seconds) can be found on Flick Alley's wonderful set. What we do see in the footage has Melies and another person standing on opposite sides of a bench. On the bench are four small people doing a couple dances. The special effects of the small people are very obvious but it really doesn't take away anything from the film. How these small people were used reminded me a lot of a famous sequence in James Whale's BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. There's not much available of this film but I'm glad it was included on the set.