Fairyland: Kingdom of Fairies

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Matthew B The story concerns an evil wizard who summons his imps to kidnap a princess, who is carried off on a dragon. By superimposing two scenes together, Méliès creates a vision whereby the Prince's hallway is turned into the room where the Princess is being held. Assisted by the sympathetic fairy Aurora, the Prince leads an expedition to rescue the Princess. Méliès employs a mixture of cinematic and theatrical devices to achieve his effects. He uses splicing, dissolves and superimposition, notably in a scene where the imps seemingly walk across the sky. Once again the camerawork is static, but the constant activity by the actors creates a sensation of movement. The Méliès look is one of crowds of people together. There is little time for individualisation or characterisation. His films are too short to allow that. Most of the effects are essentially stagey however. Characters disappear in a puff of smoke, using trapdoors. Pyrotechnics are employed. Actors pose on top of dais elevated above the other characters, causing them to look like images in a painting. The sets in The Kingdom of the Fairies are ambitious. They include stage machinery that allows the hand-coloured movable sets to lift up like stage curtains to reveal layers beneath. There is some animation. The sky is a rolling panorama recalling the cyclorama used in stage sets and some movies, including Rope. The scenes in the sea use real water. Méliès uses an aquarium that allows real fish to pass in front of the screen. There are also a number of models, such as the whale and a rather endearing octopus. I wrote a longer appreciation of Kingdom of the Fairies and three other works by Méliès on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2020/02/07/journeys-with-melies-the-narrative-movies-of-georges-melies/ Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Fairyland: Kingdom of Fairies

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