There's a lot of Gilliam and Kubrick to be found in Georges Melies fifteen minute phantasmagoria epic A Kingdom of the Faires made 30 an 40 years before they were born. Melies pulls out all the stops with this wildly color tinted happily ever after nightmare featuring hallucinogenic compositions and early experimentation with miniatures and fish tanks between camera and set.
A King insults a witch who exacts revenge by abducting the princess to a far off lair. The Prince pursues, has to undergo a series of challenges including a stop in Atlantis but ultimately vanquishes the witch with enormous assistance from the good fairy Aurora by drowning her.
Melies moves everything but the camera in this multi set-up (backdrop) picaresque struggle between good and evil lush in opulent design and color; epitomized in the stunning turn of the century pop-out book finale. Despite its creaky look Kingdom is filled with wildly etched compositions of audacity and comedy all from the mind and eye of the neglected pioneer Melies.
A King insults a witch who exacts revenge by abducting the princess to a far off lair. The Prince pursues, has to undergo a series of challenges including a stop in Atlantis but ultimately vanquishes the witch with enormous assistance from the good fairy Aurora by drowning her.
Melies moves everything but the camera in this multi set-up (backdrop) picaresque struggle between good and evil lush in opulent design and color; epitomized in the stunning turn of the century pop-out book finale. Despite its creaky look Kingdom is filled with wildly etched compositions of audacity and comedy all from the mind and eye of the neglected pioneer Melies.