''The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon'' (originally ''L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune'') is a French

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 ...

made in 1907 by director Georges Méliès.

Plot

A professor of

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

gives a lecture instructing on an impending

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

. The class rushes to an observation tower to witness the event, which features an anthropomorphic

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

and

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

coming together. The Moon and the Sun lick their lips in anticipation as the eclipse arrives, culminating in a romantic encounter between the two celestial bodies. Various heavenly bodies, including planets and moons, hang in the night sky; a

meteor shower A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extre ...

is depicted using the ghostly figures of girls. The professor of astronomy, shocked by all he has witnessed, topples from the observation tower. Fortunately, he lands in a rain barrel, and is revived by his students.

Themes

''The Eclipse'' has been remarked upon for its overt sexual symbolism. Christine Cornea posits that the film's primary theme, the clash of scientific logic with sexual desire, was also evident in Méliès' earlier films '' A Trip to the Moon'' and ''

The Impossible Voyage ''The Impossible Voyage'' (french: Le Voyage à travers l'impossible), also known as ''An Impossible Voyage'' and ''Whirling the Worlds'', is a 1904 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès. Inspired by Jules Verne's play '' Journey Throu ...

'', and would become a prominent in many subsequent

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

films. Some scholars, interpreting the Sun and the Moon to be both male, have described the erotic "eclipse" as an early depiction of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

in cinema, with an "effeminate" Moon being seduced by an "devilishly masculine" Sun. By contrast, Méliès's film catalogue describes the liaison in

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...

terms, referring to the participants as "the man in the sun" and "dainty Diana" and using pronouns to match. Film critic William B. Parrill calls this courtship scene "a comic passage worthy of Ernst Lubitsch at his best … one of the great moments of silent comedy."

Production

Méliès appears in the film as the professor, with the actor Manuel as the class supervisor and Mademoiselle Bodson as a comet. Some scenes in ''The Eclipse'' were originally made by Méliès for a film commissioned for a revue at a Paris music hall,

La Cigale La Cigale (; English: ''The Cicada'') is a theatre located at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart near Place Pigalle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The theatre is part of a complex connected to the Le Trabendo concert venue and the Boule No ...

. Special effects in ''The Eclipse'' were created with

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,

superimposition Superimposition is the placement of one thing over another, typically so that both are still evident. Graphics In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to t ...

s, dissolves, rolling scenery, and a mannequin for the professor's fall.

References

External links

* * 1907 films 1900s science fiction films French black-and-white films Films directed by Georges Méliès French LGBT-related films French silent short films Moon in film Sun in film French science fiction films 1900s French films LGBT-related science fiction films Silent science fiction films {{1900s-France-film-stub