Humanity Through the Ages
La Civilisation à travers les âges | |
---|---|
Directed by | Georges Méliès |
Written by | Georges Méliès |
Produced by | Georges Méliès |
Production company | |
Release date | 1908 |
Running time | 320 meters[1] |
Country | France |
Language | Silent |
Humanity Through the Ages (
Summary
The film's first ten episodes feature
Production
Humanity Through the Ages was made in response to successful historical films such as The Last Days of Pompeii, and directed in a highly serious style contrasting sharply with most of Méliès's work.[2] Méliès made two appearances in the film, as a druid and as a judge in the Spanish Inquisition.[5] The first scene includes a moment staged by Méliès to recreate Pierre-Paul Prud'hon's 1808 painting Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime.[5]
The Méliès scholars Paul Hammond and John Frazer have noted that the film's highly pessimistic tone is unusual among Méliès's work; both scholars have suggested that the pessimism derives from the intense commercial pressure Méliès felt from competitors during the making of the film.[2][4]
Release and reception
The film was released by Méliès's Star Film Company as its first film of 1908[6] and numbered 1050–1065 in its catalogs.[1] It was registered for American copyright at the Library of Congress on 7 February 1908.[1] According to the film historian Jay Leyda, the film created a sensation when it was released in Russia.[2]
Méliès's son, André Méliès, reported that Humanity Through the Ages was the film his father felt proudest of.[5] It is now presumed lost.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d Malthête & Mannoni, p. 352.
- ^ ISBN 0816183686.
- ^ Malthête & Mannoni, p. 229.
- ^ ISBN 0900406380.
- ^ a b c d Malthête & Mannoni, p. 228.
- ^ Malthête & Mannoni, p. 31.
- Bibliography
- Malthête, Jacques; Mannoni, Laurent (2008). L'oeuvre de Georges Méliès. Paris: Éditions de La Martinière. ISBN 9782732437323.
External links
- Media related to Humanity Through the Ages at Wikimedia Commons
- Humanity Through the Ages at IMDb