Georges Méliès's 1902 masterpiece is not just a science fiction movie. It's also a satire on nineteenth-century science. It attempts to show the illogicality of logical thinking, as a great voyage gets achieved by incompetent doofuses, with the movie's most famous scene as the ultimate example.
"Le Voyage dans la Lune" ("A Trip to the Moon") is also an indictment of colonialism. The astronauts attack the Moon Men - called Selenites - and then bring one back to Earth, where they parade him around. This clearly reflects France's occupation of large swaths of Africa and Asia. Indeed, the statue at the end is similar to an anti-Boulangist cartoon that Méliès earlier drew.
The movie recently played a role in Martin Scorsese's "Hugo", and the DVD that I watched included Scorsese in the Special Thanks section. It's a fine look at what humans once imagined the rest of the universe to be. This is truly one of the movies that you have to see before you die.
"Le Voyage dans la Lune" ("A Trip to the Moon") is also an indictment of colonialism. The astronauts attack the Moon Men - called Selenites - and then bring one back to Earth, where they parade him around. This clearly reflects France's occupation of large swaths of Africa and Asia. Indeed, the statue at the end is similar to an anti-Boulangist cartoon that Méliès earlier drew.
The movie recently played a role in Martin Scorsese's "Hugo", and the DVD that I watched included Scorsese in the Special Thanks section. It's a fine look at what humans once imagined the rest of the universe to be. This is truly one of the movies that you have to see before you die.