Georges Méliès was one of the earliest filmmakers. Often referred to as a cinemagician for his innovative special effects, Méliès invented the stop trick and is also often credited for some of the earliest use of multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted coloring. Méliès is easily one of the first fantasists of film.
He directed over 500 short films in less than twenty years and less than half of them still exist today. During WWI the French army turned Méliès' film studio into a military hospital and melted many of Méliès' films down to make boot heels for soldiers. I'm sure many more were lost through time and Méliès' once in a rage even burned many of his own films. We may never know what amazing films were lost, but nonetheless, half of 500 is still a lot.
Of the films that still exist many of them not only introduced new technical innovations, but also were many firsts of genres. Méliès is often credited to have made the first Science Fiction film (A Trip to the Moon, 1902) as well as the first Horror film (The Haunted Castle, 1986).
Many of Méliès' films became formulaic and repetitive and at times it seems as if Méliès would just rehash older films he made and call them new. It may not be said that Méliès was the most consistent filmmaker (a seemingly hard feat when your filmography surpasses 500) but he was undeniably a creative director and one of the biggest pioneers of film.
Since many of Méliès' films are so short (most running between 1 and 6 minutes) and there are so many of them it would be impossible for me to review each one. So instead I have decided to make a list of my ten favorite Georges Méliès' films, the ones I find to be the best. Keep in mind I haven't seen all of his films, but I've seen around fifty of them.
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