''Soap Bubbles'' (french: Les Bulles de savon animées) is a 1906 French silent trick film 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 ...

Plot

With smoke from a

brazier A brazier () is a container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel for cooking, heating or cultural rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet. Its elevation helps circulate air, feeding oxygen to the fire. Braziers h ...

, a magician makes a woman appear in midair and slowly float to the ground. Two assistants bring in an arrangement of pedestals, onto which they lead the woman. The magician blows

soap bubble A soap bubble is an extremely thin film of soap or detergent and water enclosing air that forms a hollow sphere with an iridescent surface. Soap bubbles usually last for only a few seconds before bursting, either on their own or on contact wi ...

s through a straw, and they appear as women's faces, floating up to join the woman posing on the set of pedestals. Next they themselves change into real butterfly-winged women, before the whole

tableau Tableau (French for 'little table' literally, also used to mean 'picture'; tableaux or, rarely, tableaus) may refer to: Arts * ''Tableau'', a series of four paintings by Piet Mondrian titled ''Tableau I'' through to ''Tableau IV'' * ''Tableau viv ...

disappears. Having his assistants bring on a wide plinth, the magician summons up the three women again, joining them on the plinth before they fade away. Finally, the magician curls up into a ball, becomes a giant soap bubble, and floats slowly upward. The magician returns to join his surprised assistants in a curtain call.

Production

Méliès is the magician in the film, which combines stage machinery, pyrotechnics,

substitution splice The substitution splice or stop trick is a cinematic special effect in which filmmakers achieve an appearance, disappearance, or transformation by altering one or more selected aspects of the mise-en-scène between two shots while maintaining th ...

s, multiple exposures, and dissolves to create its illusions. The opening title card is hand-lettered as in three other films by Méliès made around the same time: ''

Rip's Dream ''Rip's Dream'' (french: La Légende de Rip Van Vinckle ) is a 1905 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès. Plot Production ''Rip's Dream'' is based on two sources: the original 1819 "Rip Van Winkle" story by Washington Irving, and th ...

'' (1905), '' The Tramp and the Mattress Makers'' (1906), and ''

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 ...

'' (1906). Méliès's final trick, curling into a fetal position and disappearing into the womb of the bubble, is reminiscent of his later film '' The Knight of Black Art'' (1907), in which he disappears into a large hoop. In both cases, he returns at the end of the film to reassure his frightened assistants.

Release and legacy

''Soap Bubbles'' was sold by Méliès's

Star Film Company The Manufacture de films pour cinématographes, often known as Star Film, was a French film production company run by the illusionist and film director Georges Méliès. History On 28 December 1895, Méliès attended the celebrated first publi ...

and is numbered 846–848 in its catalogues. At his stage venue, the

Théâtre Robert-Houdin The Théâtre Robert-Houdin, initially advertised as the Théâtre des Soirées Fantastiques de Robert-Houdin, was a Paris theatre dedicated primarily to the performance of stage illusions. Founded by the famous magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin ...

, Méliès did a magic act between 1907 and 1910 developing the soap-bubble motif from the film. In the stage act, a ghost slept on a stool, with huge soap bubbles come out of his head as he snored. Three such bubbles floated around the stage, and three phosphorescent ghostly heads appeared inside them.

References

External links

* {{Authority control French black-and-white films Films directed by Georges Méliès French silent short films Trick films