''A Nightmare'' (French: ''Le cauchemar'') is a
silent trick film created and released in 1896 and 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 ...
. It was released 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 82 in its catalogues, where it was advertised as a ''scène fantastique''.
The film was shot outside in the garden of Méliès's property in
Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
Montreuil (), sometimes unofficially referred to as Montreuil-sous-Bois (), is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris in Seine-Saint-Denis. With a population o ...
, with painted scenery. Méliès plays the sleeping man.
[
]
Synopsis
A man tossing and turning in his sleep has a nightmare. He is visited by various visions which transform into each other, including a girl clad only in a sheet, a minstrel wearing blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
, Pierrot, and the Man in the Moon, who gnaws on his arm. He wakes up tangled in his sheets. He is relieved that it was all just a dream.
References
External links
*
1896 films
French silent short films
French black-and-white films
Films directed by Georges Méliès
Films about nightmares
Films shot in France
Blackface minstrel shows and films
Moon in film
1896 short films
Silent horror films
1890s French films
Trick films
{{1890s-France-film-stub