MÉLIÈS THE ORIGINS OF CINEMA

Ten plays, ten short films, ten fundamental steps in the history of cinema; ten works that oscillate between the comic, the fantastic and the fantastical, ten fééries, ten magics. These are just a few words to describe these films by Georges Méliès, shot between 1898 and 1903, with a maximum length of 8 minutes. For the time, they were real enterprises, which still seem like such today. The director, who was originally a conjurer and liked to surprise the audience, did not limit himself to conjuring, but aimed for a work of art. He succeeded in this, creating films in which everything, from the sets to the photography and the lighting, was already the result of careful study, even if it was certainly still in its infancy.

And if talking pictures had existed in his time, Méliès would certainly have been interested in them. Today, several musicians, among the best in Italy, have taken pleasure in recording new compositions for these magnificent fééries: Piovani, Bollani, Cherubini, Rita Marcotulli, gli Avion Travel, il Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Nocenzi e Rea.