Trip to the Moon 1902

In 1902 Mélies made Le Voyage dans la Lune, his most famous work. He perfected these effects even after filming, thus anticipating future post-production.
Le Voyage dans la lune relates the story of a group of scholars from an astronomy academy who decide to go to the Moon (one). The ship is sent up to the Moon by a cannon. Soon, we see the Moon, surrounded by clouds, looming large, its face becoming increasingly visible. The ship strikes directly into the right eye of the Moon’s face, which turns it into a disgusted expression.

The scholars get off the ship without any equipment or specially made spacesuits. A strange landscape comprising of alien rocks surrounds them. 

The scholars are then excited at seeing the Earth rising on the horizon. A series of fantastic occurrences soon ensue, such as sudden explosions from the ground, a sense of exhaustion that puts the Space travellers to sleep, a passing comet, the Big Dipper appearing with seven faces, and an encounter with gods and goddesses of the stars and planets who call for snow (two). The snow wakes up the scholars and they move underground where alien plants (most of which look like giant mushrooms) flourish. An alien being suddenly appears on the scene and interrupts the wonder, but its friendly gestures are met by the scholars’ aggressive responses. It disappears, or supposedly dies, after being hit by one of the astronauts. This aggressive gesture attracts more alien beings until all the scholars are taken to the palace of the alien king as prisoners.

 One of the scholars soon kills the king by smashing him unto the ground. As a result, the scholars have to run for their life and escape the pursuing alien soldiers. The space ship is retrieved (the film does not show how) and pulled off a cliff (three). By doing so, the ship and its crew fall back on earth dropping into the ocean. They are towed back home, celebrated by a welcoming crowd, and rewarded with giant Moon-faced medals. The scholars then present the gift brought back from the Moon: a captured Moon alien held by a rope around his neck and beaten with a stick. He is displayed in the parade in front of a statue honoring the leader of the scholars and his brave travel to the Moon.

As we can see, the story revolves around a journey that is not treated as a serious scientific exploration but almost as a parody of science and scientists. The scholars are portrayed in a fashion so disrespectful that they accomplish almost nothing except coming up with the empty idea of going to the Moon. On the Moon, the scholars do nothing save, fall asleep and run away from the pursuing aliens; the captured alien is treated and displayed in a manner not so much different from the way exotic slaves or aboriginal people were through during the colonial era (four). The entire event of going to the Moon is depicted in the film as a sort of joke. The film is a showcase of Méliès’ tricks and special effects, neither Space exploration (Moon-landing) nor Space is taken as objects of serious or scientific consideration. Such a “light” treatment of the topic reflected the era’s mainstream opinions toward Space and Space travel (i.e., as something scientifically “impossible”) while at the same time deepening them. 

The method and the vehicle used to carry the scholars to the Moon seem somewhat peculiar, if not absolutely imaginative, to a modern spectator. The cannon and the metal bullet-like spacecraft (five) are far from how we conceive of Space travel today. Méliès did not at all intend to convince the audience into believing in the reality (or the real feasibility) of a trip to the Moon or else to give them the impression of witnessing how such a trip would really look like.
When the travellers are escaping the pursuing aliens, their spacecraft simply drops off the edge of the Moon, and voilà! They are back home on Earth (three).