The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
In this film, Méliès concocts a combination fairy- and morality tale about the foolishness of trying to look too deeply into the workings of an unstable and inscrutable universe. At a medieval school, an old astronomer begins to teach a class of young men, all armed with telescopes, about the art of scrutinising an imminent eclipse. When a mechanical clock strikes twelve, all the young men rush to the windows and fix their telescopes on the heavens.
From the archive
Title: The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon Summary: As the clock strikes twelve, a weary astronomer attempts to answer the impertinent enquiries of his young students by scrutinising an impending lunar eclipse, as an effeminate and delicate moon caresses the mighty sun's hungry cosmic rays. Directed by: Georges Méliès Actors: Directed by Georges Méliès. With Mlle. Bodson, Manuel, Georges Méliès. As the clock strikes twelve Production Company: Star-Film Release Date: 1907 (France) Aspect Ratio: 1.33 : 1 What inscrutable secrets lie deep into the boundless cosmos that surround us? Riddled with questions about man's origin and his place in the universe, a weary and respectable astronomer attempts to answer the impertinent enquiries of his young students by scrutinising an impending lunar eclipse. Soon, the clock strikes twelve, and a glorious parade of enormous celestial bodies, brilliant wandering stars, and sparkling comets pass before their phallic telescopes, as an effeminate and delicate moon caresses the mighty sun's hungry cosmic rays. Indeed, this eerie astral euphoria is contagious--and by the end of this ardent sun and moon courtship--the grizzled stargazer will be overwhelmed by the wondrous harmony of all creation.
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The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon (1907) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. No signup, no payment and no advertising interrupts playback. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Georges Méliès
- Starring
- Georges Méliès, Mademoiselle Bodson, Manuel
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