1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

I thought I’d catch up on some past 1001 Movie Blog Club selections. What more natural place to start than with the first movie on the list? As an added bonus, I finally got to see the restored hand-colored version with some additional footage I had never seen. The restoration, music, and added footage only add to the film’s charm. I had always thought of this movie as a landmark of early cinema but this viewing had me laughing out loud at some of the ridiculous antics Méliès presents.

Our story begins at a meeting of astronomers. Their president proposes a trip to the moon. He gets a generally enthusiastic reception but one of the astronomers objects and the president pelts the culprit with books and papers. Four astronomers are selected to join the president on the voyage. The group goes to inspect the spacecraft, which is shaped like a giant bullet. It will be launched from a cannon and we see the gun being casted. A bevy of beauties in tights serve as gunners for the launch. (Méliès uses every opportunity to feature shapely ladies throughout.)

The spaceship is successfully launched. In one of the most iconic images in film history, it pierces the eye of the moon. The astronauts are tired from their journey and stretch out on the moon’s surface for a nap. They dream that women in the stars are scolding them for violating the moon. Phoebus in the form of a lady in the crescent moon sends snow to show the displeasure of the cosmos. The astronauts are cold and foolishly decide to descend into a crater. There they find a grotto filled with giant mushrooms. A vengeful group of moon dwellers called Selenites attack our heroes. Fortunately, these disappear into a puff of smoke when struck by an umbrella. Nonetheless, the a mob of Selenites chase the astronauts into the presence of their king but he also is despatched with an umbrella. The president sacrifices his life to save the other astronauts by staying behind to push the spacecraft off the edge of the moon. The spacecraft lands in the ocean, where it floats, and is rescued by a steamer.

This is where the film ended in previous versions I watched. The restored version continues on with a couple of very charming scenes showing the heroic welcome greeting the astronauts. I am crazy about the monument built in their honor.

The restoration I watched was based on an original hand-colored print of A Trip to the Moon rediscovered in 1993 by the Filmoteca de Catalunya. Technicolor Lab of Los Angeles launched a frame-by-frame restoration of the almost totally decomposed print in 1999 and completed it in 2010. Afterwards, West Wing Digital Studios replaced missing frames by hand painting frames from a black and white print. The restored version finally premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, with a new soundtrack by the French band Air. It was released in 2012 by Flicker Alley in a 2-disc Blu-Ray/DVD edition, which included the documentary The Extraordinary Voyage about its restoration. I’d like to see that DVD edition sometime. Alas, it is not available for rent on Netflix. However, the restoration itself is available on YouTube or on the Wikipedia site for the film.