Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"The Eclipse: The Courtship of the Sun and Moon" is a black-and-white silent film from 1907, even if you will find a few versions where they added sound or color afterward. But if you look at the year, you know what to expect here. And at the maker as Méliès was really the number 1 filmmaker during this really early era for the movies. I personally would say that these nine minutes here are not among his best and certainly not on par with his most known moon movie. It sure was a frequent subject back then and this fascination should go on for a long time afterward mounting in the race to space even. Okay drifting away now, no pun intended. And even if I did not like it that much overall, I think it is interesting to see how they are moments and scenes that may have inspired comedies in the century to follow. Oh yeah let me say that I watched the 9-minute version. I see there is also one at 6. Overall, really only the most hardcore silent film fans and Méliès fans should give this one a look. Even if it is among the master's most known works as of today, I believe a great deal of his gigantic body of work is superior to this one here and that's why I give it a thumbs-down.
wes-connors
A white-bearded teacher dressed somewhat like a wizard informs his students of an imminent eclipse. He uses a chalkboard to illustrate the path of the sun and the moon. The students do not seem very excited. The teacher provides telescopes to the class, and there is more interest. He goes to watch the eclipse on an upper level. Hopefully, the teacher doesn't think this will get him a closer look. We see the eclipse through the teacher's lens. A feminine-looking Moon passes in front of a masculine-looking Sun. The Moon seems aroused. The Sun looks like it has a headache. Still, the forces of nature bring them together. Later, many little celestial objects are born. Lastly, the teacher loses his senses.****** L'eclipse du soleil en pleine lune (1907) Georges Melies ~ Georges Melies
JoeytheBrit
Unlike most other reviewers of this film I found it quite dull, and wondered as I watched, whether it was around this time that Melies began losing touch with the development of the motion pictures. As filmmakers became more confident of their own abilities and that of their equipment more realistic stories set in real locations became more commonplace, but Melies was still staging his films against painted backdrops and producing the same kind of stories he was making in 1902.The most remarkable thing about this film is the eclipse itself in which it is obvious that the movement of the sun and moon is equated with the act of sex. It would look like a cheap laugh if it was made today, but to see it in a film more than 100 years old is quite extraordinary. Apart from this sequence, the film's scenes last too long and the comedy isn't really that funny even by the standards of the early 20th century.
MartinHafer
I love the short films of Méliès, though in his day, a nine minute film like this one was actually considered "full length". They are wonderful for their clever writing, amazing and adorable sets, trick cinematography and coherence. While I am sure there are some out there who would disagree, I think his comedies of the 1900s are actually better and more watchable and amazing today than many of the comedies by Keystone of the 1910s. While Arbuckle and Chaplin's early stuff is very, very rough and almost plot less at times (it did improve), a full decade earlier Méliès was making wonderful gems like Le Voyage dans le Lune, Barbe-Bleue and this film.While L'Éclipse du soleil en pleine lune isn't the best film he made, it certainly gets very high marks for its camera-work and its laughs (particularly at the end). So, even though it starts off kind of slow, stick with it--it definitely improves.If you want to see this film online, go to Google and type in "Méliès" and then click the video button for a long list of his films that are viewable without special software.
AD
