Underplayed Gems

Extraordinary Illusions (1903)

Extraordinary Illusions poster
Original title
Illusions funambulesques
Directed by
Georges Méliès
Genre
comedy film, silent film
Country
France
Runtime
2 min
Rating
6.1 of 10 from 33 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A magician performs a series of tricks using substitution splices and dissolves. He brings a mannequin to life and transforms it through various illusions.

whimsicalplayfullightheartedinventivefast-pacedstageyamusingnostalgic

What happens

Illusions funambulesques, sold in the United States as Extraordinary Illusions and in Britain as The 20th Century Illustrationist, is a 1903 French silent trick film by Georges Méliès. It was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 512–513 in its catalogues. Méliès plays the magician in the film, which uses substitution splices and dissolves to create its tricks. Méliès returned to the motif of dressing up and transforming a mannequin in a 1905 film, The Enchanted Sedan Chair. Illusions funambulesques should not be confused with an earlier Méliès film, Dislocation Extraordinary (1901). This earlier film has also been known in English as Extraordinary Illusions since at least 1979, when John Frazer described it under that title. A 2008 home video Méliès collection used the title Extraordinary Illusions for both the 1901 and the 1903 films. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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