''Baron Munchausen's Dream'' (french: Les Hallucinations du baron de Münchausen), also known as ''Les Aventures de baron de Munchausen'' and ''Monsieur le Baron a trop bien dîné'', is a 1911 French
short
Short may refer to:
Places
* Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon
* Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place
People
* Short (surname)
* List of people known as ...
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
directed by
Georges Méliès
Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema.
Méliès was well known for the use of ...
.
Synopsis
After an evening of entertaining guests with lavish food and drink, a drunk
Baron Munchausen
Baron Munchausen (; ) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book '' Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia''. The character is loosely based on a real ...
is carried to his bed, underneath a huge
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
mirror. He soon drifts into heavy sleep, only to experience a variety of disturbing and otherworldly dreams. An idyllic scene of couples dancing in a park gives way to a violent tableau of Ancient Egyptian design; the
Three Graces, standing in classical poses, become three frog-like monsters and then three
halberdier
A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from ...
s.
Awaking briefly, the Baron checks his reflection in a mirror to ensure all is well, then drifts back into dreams: his bed seems to dance about in an
Orientalist landscape, and then it is attacked by giant grasshopper and a clown. Believing himself to be awake, the Baron approaches a fountain attended by women, who then make snow pour down upon him. They are replaced by a mythic figure who disappears down a well. The Baron next dreams himself in Hell, attacked by demons, a dragon, and a spider woman, and then outside a garrison where soldiers are shooting at him.
Finally back in his room, and again thinking he has woken up, the Baron finds himself attacked by a grinning
Man in the Moon
In many cultures, several pareidolic images of a human face, head or body are recognized in the disc of the full moon; they are generally known as the Man in the Moon. The images are based on the appearance of the dark areas (known as lunar mar ...
who transforms into a bespectacled elephant. Lifting a heavy piece of furniture, the Baron hurls it toward the dreams, breaking the mirror and sending him falling down into the outdoors, where he is hooked on an iron fence and has to be rescued. A final scene shows the Baron, much the worse for his experience, attended by servants.
Production
Méliès greatly admired the Baron Munchausen stories created by
Rudolf Erich Raspe
Rudolf Erich Raspe (March 1736 – 16 November 1794) was a German librarian, writer, and scientist, called by his biographer John Patrick Carswell a "rogue". He is best known for his collection of tall tales '' The Surprising Adventures of Bar ...
, and may have used them as inspiration for his celebrated film ''
A Trip to the Moon
''A Trip to the Moon'' (french: Le Voyage dans la Lune) is a 1902 French adventure short film directed by Georges Méliès. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's 1865 novel ''From the Earth to the Moon'' and its 1870 s ...
''. However, ''Baron Munchausen's Dream'' has little in common with the Baron character or his traditional adventures.
The film was one of six commissioned from Méliès by the studio
Pathé Frères
Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipme ...
; Méliès made the film in his
Star Film Company studio, relying on Pathé to distribute it.
The closely framed
medium shot
In a movie a medium shot, mid shot (MS), or waist shot is a camera angle shot from a medium distance.
Use
Medium shots are favored in sequences where dialogues or a small group of people are acting, as they give the viewer a partial view of th ...
at the beginning of the film, an unusual setup for Méliès, probably indicates Pathé's influence. Similarly, the film's pace, extremely relaxed by Méliès's standards, may point to outside pressure to make the film run longer.
The scenery, painted in detail on two-dimensional backgrounds and cutouts, was created by a frequent Méliès collaborator, Charles Claudel. It was filmed in Méliès's glass studios, except for the outdoors scene near the end of the film, which was shot outside the Méliès house nearby.
[ Many of the props are recycled from Méliès's earlier films, such as an elaborate dragon puppet from the 1906 fantasy '']The Witch
A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft.
Witch, WITCH, or variations thereof may also refer to:
Animals
* Witch (lefteye flounder) (''Arnoglossus scapha''), a Pacific flatfish
* Witch (righteye flounder) (''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''), a Euro ...
.'' Effects in the film were created using stage machinery
Stage machinery, also known as stage mechanics, comprises the mechanical devices used to create special effects in theatrical productions.
See also
* Scenic design
Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the ...
, pyrotechnic
Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. ...
s, substitution splices, and dissolves.[
The mirror sequence in the film is based on a routine that had long been popular in ]music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
s. The effect was not produced with a real mirror, which would have reflected the studio windows and the camera; instead, there were two actors on the set, one of whom mimicked the other's gestures from the opposite side of the imaginary "glass." The comedian Max Linder
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) (1 ...
revived the mirror routine in his 1921 film ''Seven Years Bad Luck
''Seven Years Bad Luck'' is a 1921 American comedy film written and directed by, and starring Max Linder. A man about to be married becomes fearful of bad luck when he breaks a mirror.
Plot
Max Linder returns home drunk after his bachelor par ...
''.[
]
Release
The film's original title is ''Les Hallucinations du baron de Münchausen''; it is also known as ''Les Aventures de baron de Munchhausen'', and is known in English as ''Baron Munchausen's Dream''. Though the film was commissioned by Pathé Frères, it is unclear whether the studio ever actually released it.[
The film was shown in a cinema, possibly for the first time, in 1943; the exhibitor was André Robert, who obtained permission for the screenings from Méliès's widow, ]Jehanne d'Alcy
Charlotte Lucie Marie Adèle Stephanie Adrienne Faës (20 March 1865 – 14 October 1956), known by her stage name Jeanne d'Alcy or Jehanne d'Alcy, was a French film actress.
Biography
D'Alcy had achieved success in theatrical productions by 1 ...
. Because '' Münchhausen'', a German film about the Baron, was then playing in Paris theaters, Robert changed the title of the Méliès film to ''Monsieur le Baron a trop bien dîné''. An original orchestral score for the film was written and recorded by Marius-François Gaillard. Robert donated his print of the film to the Méliès family.[
]
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron Munchausen's Dream
1911 films
French silent short films
1910s French-language films
French black-and-white films
Films directed by Georges Méliès
French fantasy films
Baron Munchausen
1910s fantasy films
Articles containing video clips