Fantastic Short Film Friday - Le Voyage Dans La Lune (live-action)

And we are back with another installment in our Fantastic Short Film Friday series, as we continue to showcase films released in the "lesser" known form of cinema- the short film.

In honor of the movie Hugo (I won't explain why in fear of giving too much away), I wanted to showcase one of the most important and influential films of all-time, a silent sci-fi romp to the distant moon that continues to capture the imagination of filmmakers and film lovers to this day. Here is an 16-minute French black and white silent short called, La Voyage dans la lune (or A Trip to the Moon) from filmmaker, Georges Melies. Anyone who's ever watched the Simpson's or watched the Smashing Pumpkins video for Tonight Tonight has seen this film referenced. To call it a short would be an understatement since when this was created in 1902, it was one of the longer running films.

Written and directed by Melies, this is based loosely on Jules Verne's From the Earth and the Moon and HG Wells The First Men in the Moon. It's the story of a group of astronauts that travel to the Moon and battle Moon Men before returning home to a hero's welcome.

This film is important for many reasons, least of all it's iconic imagery, it's use of animation and special effects and also it being the first sci-fi film ever produced. I decided to add the short after watching the breathtaking film Hugo, because that film is Martin Scorsese's love letter to film and the history of film. Again, I won't go into why this film and director Melies are important to the overall narrative of Hugo, but trust me you should see Hugo and then rewatch this film again. Everytime I rewatch this, I'm left with a sense of awe and wonder. They made this 100 years ago. What innovation!

Check this out if you love film and film history. Check this out if you want to see a film from a bygone age where you can marvel at the simplicity of its execution and brilliance. Again, this is the first ever sci-fi film here people! Enjoy this weeks dose of short form goodness in, La Voyage dans la lune.