''Le Sorcier'', sold in the United States as ''The Witch's Revenge'' and in Britain as ''The Sorcerer's Revenge'', is a 1903 French
silent trick film
In the early history of cinema, trick films were short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects.
History
The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his works remain ...
by
Georges Méliès
Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès ( , ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French magic (illusion), magician, toymaker, actor, and filmmaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of film, cinema, primarily in th ...
. It was sold 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 473–475 in its catalogues.
Plot
In a courtly setting, a king condemns an old sorcerer to be chained to a post and tortured. The sorcerer, begging for mercy, attempts to entertain the court with magic, conjuring up a classical ''
tableau vivant
A (; often shortened to ; ; ) is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrically illuminated. It thus combines ...
'' and making a chair spin of its own accord. However, the king is steadfast. Just as he is about to chain up the sorcerer, however, his attendants transform into assistants of the sorcerer, and chain the king up instead. The sorcerer and the whole court link arms, and they all dance away happily.
Production
Méliès plays the sorcerer, whose magic is created using a combination of
stage machinery
Stage machinery, also known as stage mechanics, comprises the mechanical devices used to create special effects in theatrical productions, including scene changes, lowering actors through the stage floor (traps) and enabling actors to 'fly' ove ...
,
trap door
A trapdoor or hatch is a sliding or hinged door that is flush with the surface of a floor, ceiling, or roof. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has ...
s,
substitution splice
The substitution splice or stop trick is a cinematic special effect in which filmmakers achieve an appearance, disappearance, or transformation by altering one or more selected aspects of the mise-en-scène between two shots
while maintaining t ...
s,
multiple exposure
In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be ide ...
s, and
dissolves.
References
External links
*
French black-and-white films
Films directed by Georges Méliès
French silent short films
Trick films
Articles containing video clips
Films about witchcraft
French films about revenge
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