human imagination at its best.

“A Trip to the Moon” by Georges Melies seemed to make me think more than any other film we have thus far watched. It seemed quite primitive by many of our modern standards, but in the context of its time watching the film “A Trip to the Moon” must have been nearly as sublime as taking the actual trip. I was astonished by the fact that, in a year when mankind had not even learned to fly, Melies was able to convey such a sense of the impossible.

Imagine what it must have been like at that time to see such sights – the enormous props, the exotic landscapes, the moon-men who disappeared instantly – for the first time. In a day and age where all of these can be dismissed with the casual, “Oh, they just do it with computers,” and “It’s just green-screen,” I think we are jaded in the way we see such a film. It is also something to see that even without all of our modern story-telling devices, without fancy makeup and a hit soundtrack, a film can be just as effective – as an audience, we still felt triumph when the visitors made it to the moon and relief when they made it home. It just goes to show you, everything changes but everything stays the same.