The Magic of Méliès

Jan 1, 1997

2h 11m

★ 7.3

Overview

A walk through the life and work of the brilliant French filmmaker Georges Méliès (1861-1938), pioneer of special and visual effects.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Sodaperaga Productions

Mikros Image

Productions Sheherazade

La Sept-Arte

CNC

The Magic of Méliès Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Marina Moncade

Méliès (voice)

Daniel Ceccaldi

Salesman (voice)

Charles-Antoine Decroix

Magician

Abdul Alafrez

Magician's Assistant

Claire Mosser

Young Méliès

Didier Cremer

Magic Lantern Operator

Alain Kanto

Announcer

Philippe Duval

The Drawing Hand

François Riou

Child Madeleine

Clara Mény

Self

Madeleine Malthête-Méliès

Self

Christian Fechner

In 1978, a young unknown singer with a flute-like voice captivated the world with Wuthering Heights, a song inspired by Emily Brontë's novel of the same name. Discovered by David Gilmour, guitarist with Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, aged 19, succeeded in imposing her choices on her record company: for the first time, a song composed by a woman reached the top of the UK charts.

7.8

Coco Chanel Unbuttoned

Sep 15, 2023

The story of original influencer Coco Chanel, whose designs still represent the zenith of female sexuality, style and power.

0.0

O Imperfeccionista

Jun 19, 2019

No overview available.

7.3

Midnight Ramble

Oct 26, 1994

A documentary chronicling the pioneering efforts of black filmmaker William D. Foster in the early years of the industry and Oscar Micheaux's controversial impact on the subsequent "race movies".

6.2

Fellinopolis

Jun 10, 2021

Ferruccio Castronuovo was the only authorized eye, between 1976 and 1986, to film the brilliant Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini (1920-1993) in his personal and creative intimacy, to capture the gears of his great circus, his fantastic lies and his crazy inventions.

5.9

The Capote Tapes

Sep 10, 2021

A portrait of the brilliant American writer Truman Capote (1924-84) and the New York high society of his time.

No Image

0.0

This Is Not a Dream

Oct 20, 2012

The video revolution of the 1970s offered unprecedented access to the moving image for artists and performers. This Is Not a Dream explores the legacies of this revolution and its continued impact on contemporary art and performance. Charting a path across four decades of avant-garde experiment and radical escapism, This Is Not a Dream traces the influences of Andy Warhol, John Waters and Jack Smith to the perverted frontiers of YouTube and Chatroulette, taking in subverted talk shows and soap operas, streetwalker fashions and glittery magic penises along the way.

8.5

A Life for Movies: Lotte Eisner

Feb 24, 2021

Born in Berlin in 1896, Lotte Eisner became famous for her passionate involvement in the world of both German and French cinema. In 1936, together with Henri Langlois, she founded the Cinémathèque Française with the goal of saving from destruction films, costumes, sets, posters, and other treasures of the 7th Art. A Jew exiled in Paris, she became a pillar of the capital's cultural scene, where she promoted German cinema.

6.0

Yo soy Arturo Fernández

Jul 7, 2019

A gentle portrait of the mythical Spanish actor Arturo Fernández (1929-2019) in the hour of his passing, in his own words, through his latest interviews, not previously broadcast, and the words of those who knew him thorough decades of charming and good performance on stage, his true home, as well as in cinema and television.

0.0

Quando a noite ainda não existia

Jul 14, 2023

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a trans body dreams of the birth of night.

8.0

Mylène Farmer, la star secrète

Jun 21, 2023

No overview available.

0.0

I am my Grandma's Granddaughter

Apr 7, 2025

“Don’t end up alone like I did.” This plea expressed by her grandmother before passing, haunts Tatiana, a single, 40-year-old documentary filmmaker. Filled with questions about what it means to “not end up alone,” Tatiana explores her grandma Teresa’s life: an imposing woman who owned an iconic movie theater, divorced three times and challenged the Dominican social norms of her era. The filmmaker embarks on a journey through family archives, old films and hundreds of letters, constructing —or trying to deconstruct— a story about love, expectations and solitude.

8.0

De Arm Van Jezus

Jan 24, 2003

Jakob Yzermans is an American salesman looking for his roots in Rotterdam. He thinks his father (Hendrik Yzermans) has left Holland with the money he took from his collegues. Jakob is trying to get the money together to repay the money. While doing so he encounters more and more problems.

7.2

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

Nov 26, 2020

Besieged by cancer and nearing the end, the genius Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Héctor Babenco (1946-2016) asks Bárbara Paz, his wife, for one last wish: to be the protagonist of his own death.

6.7

Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer

Oct 17, 2019

An account of the life and work of Russian filmmaker Andrey Tarkovsky (1932-86) in his own words: his memories, his vision of art and his reflections on the fate of the artist and the meaning of human existence; through extremely rare audio recordings that allow a complete understanding of his inner life and the mysterious world existing behind his complex cinematic imagery.

7.7

The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster

Jan 1, 1999

The history of Frankenstein's journey from novel to stage to screen to icon.

3.0

Beyond Tragedies

Mar 16, 2022

Recalling his childhood and relationship with his mother, a film student tries to understand the origin of his love for cinema and tragedies.

7.1

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

Jun 30, 1896

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

6.0

Clawing! A Journey Through the Spanish Horror

Jun 20, 2014

In the late sixties, Spanish cinema began to produce a huge amount of horror genre films: international markets were opened, the production was continuous, a small star-system was created, as well as a solid group of specialized directors. Although foreign trends were imitated, Spanish horror offered a particular approach to sex, blood and violence. It was an extremely unusual artistic movement in Franco's Spain.