The best thing about this movie is how short it is, the second best is the over the top, clown like performance by Albert Dieudonné as Dr. Tube. After that, naming any quality would be stretching it. There's barely a plot at all. Dr. Tube invents a powder that distorts the reality/vision of the people using it. He tries it on himself and others. It wears off after they settle down, and the it's over.
As most commenters point out, it is most likely made solely to experiment with distortion of the picture, making it look like a magic mirror. The warping effect might have been a bit fun then, but now, a hundred years later, it's only annoying. It's sad though, because I'm sure a movie like this could have been a cult film amongst drug users, as it does feature a "trip", but it's just not interesting enough. Except as a piece of film history.
As most commenters point out, it is most likely made solely to experiment with distortion of the picture, making it look like a magic mirror. The warping effect might have been a bit fun then, but now, a hundred years later, it's only annoying. It's sad though, because I'm sure a movie like this could have been a cult film amongst drug users, as it does feature a "trip", but it's just not interesting enough. Except as a piece of film history.