Un homme de tête (1898)

Director:

Georges Méliès

Genre:

Short | Fantasy

Plot:

One of the greatest of black art pictures. The conjurer appears before the audience, with his head in its proper place...

Plot Keywords:

Trick Film | Dismemberment | Headless | Trick Photography

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Georges Méliès

Also Known As:

Four Heads Are Better Than One (USA)
L'homme aux quatres têtes embarrassantes (France)
Les quatres têtes embarrassantes (France)
The Four Troublesome Heads (USA)

Runtime:

1 min

Country:

France

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Spain:T

Company:

Star Film

"55 seconds of pure bliss"

I must agree with Méliès' granddaughter's description of this film. While there isn't really a plot, the film exudes pure genius in its construction. Although it looks like a single 55-second scene, the film actually combines dozens of snippets of performances and does so amazingly fluidly. The effects in this film could easily be done today using computer graphics, but would have been difficult to achieve before the 1990's. And yet Méliès was able to pull them off almost a century before that.

Although Méliès would later go on to produce some dramatic films, the most famous being his "Trip to the Moon", the pacing and energy of his later works generally fall far short of what he exhibits here. Further, while many of his later films have at least some noticeable mismatch edits or other problems, his technique on this film is perfect. Absolutely amazing.