Georges Melies puts together an amazing (for its time) narrative about a prince and princess kept apart by a scheming witch, and the prince is thrust into a journey to rescue the princess by traveling through and receiving assistance from Neptune, the god of the sea, and his cohorts. The entire film, at least the print I saw, is hand-painted, color-tinted, and it's simply amazing. The costumes, sets, backdrops, props, model work, and special effects are all superb not only for its time but for the entire silent era. The framing and composition of scenes is superior and the acting is more than acceptable, considering the exaggerated mannerisms which were already creeping into films at the time followed by more of an on-rush of them in the two decades to come. The color is reminiscent of illustrations in books, which appeared in the early decades of the twentieth century, and it adds greatly to the fantasy/mythological elements portrayed in the film. Melies expertly weaves his narrative utilizing all of the aforementioned elements in expert fashion. *** of 4 stars.
Review of The Kingdom of the Fairies
The Kingdom of the Fairies
(1903)
Extraordinary Narrative For Its Time
24 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers