GEORGES MÉLIÈS: A TRIP TO THE MOON & THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE

No original hand-colored copies of Georges Méliès A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902), had been known to survive until one was miraculously found in Spain in the mid-1990s, but in a fragmentary condition thought too fragile to handle for either viewing or restoration. In 2010, three experts in worldwide film restoration - Lobster Films, and two non-profit entities, Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema and Technicolor Foundation for Cinema Heritage - launched one of the most complex and ambitious film restoration projects ever to bring an original, colored version of Méliès’ masterpiece back 110 years after its first release. Using the most advanced digital technologies now available, the team reassembled and restored the fragments of the 13,375 frames. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, otherwise known as AIR, were then specifically commissioned by the two foundations to compose an original modern soundtrack to accompany this cinematic milestone.

“This play is surely not one of my best, but people are still talking about it thirty years later! It left an indelible trace because it was the first of its kind. In short, it is considered my masterpiece — I can only bow and agree.”

– Georges Méliès

THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE chronicles the journey of A TRIP TO THE MOON from the fantastical Méliès' production in 1902 to the astonishing rediscovery of a nitrate print in color in 1993, to the premiere of the new restoration on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. The story of A TRIP TO THE MOON's restoration to its original 1902 colors unfolds as Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange acquire a severely damaged nitrate color print from the Filmoteca de Catalunya in 1999; they then begin the tedious task of peeling off and unrolling the individual, hand-tinted frames to be able to digitize them. It took two years to recover the images on the individual fragments, which were then stored on a hard drive for 8 years, as the technology available at the time did not allow Lobster Films to continue the landmark restoration. The documentary also includes interviews with contemporary filmmakers, including Costa-Gavras, Michel Gondry, Michel Hazanavicius, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Méliès' enduring significance to cinema.

This 2-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo publication also contains A TRIP TO THE MOON in a beautifully restored black and white edition from original 35 mm elements with three separate audio tracks of music: An orchestral score by Robert Israel, with the original English narration written by Méliès; a second track produced by Russell Merritt consists of a troupe of actors voicing the various characters as performed in the U.S. in 1903, with piano music by Frederick Hodges; and finally, Hodges piano accompaniment as a solo. There is also an interview with the group AIR on the restoration’s soundtrack, and two lunar-related shorts by Méliès - THE ASTRONOMER'S DREAM (1898) and THE ECLIPSE (1904).  Also included a 24-page lavishly illustrated full-color booklet reprinting, in excerpt, A Trip to the Moon Back in Color by Gilles Duval and Séverine Wemaere, providing extensive background information on Méliès and his masterpiece, along with notes on the restoration.

Winner: 2011 National Society of Film Critics
"Best Film Restoration" Award

2012 FOCAL International "Best Archive Restoration Nominee.

A Complete List of Georges Méliès' Films Distributed by GME

  Contents

Format: Blu-ray & DVD-NTSC Combo /
Region A & Region 1

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LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE / A TRIP TO THE MOON
(France, 1902)

Director: Georges Méliès
Screenplay: Georges Méliès, based on ideas by Jules Verne and H. G. Wells
Cinematographer: Michaut & Lucien Tainguy
Production Designer: Claudel (uncredited)
Editor: Georges Méliès
Production Company: Star Films, Catalogue No.399-411
Cast: Victor André, Bleuette Bernon, Jeanne d’Alcy, Henri Delannoy, François Lallement, Georges Méliès, Brunnet, Depierre, Farjaux & Kelm

• 15 minutes
• Color, Hand-tinted
• Silent

     _________________________________________

THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE / LE VOYAGE EXTRAORDINAIRE
(France, 2011) 

Director: Serge Bromberg & Eric Lange
Screenplay: Serge Bromberg & Eric Lange
Cinematographer: Jean-Louis Sonzogni
Editor: Janice Jones
Producer: Marianne Lère (Steamboat Films), Serge Bromberg (Lobster Films)
Grateful Thanks: Frédérique Moreau
Adaptation & Subtitles: Lenny Borger
English Narration: Serge Bromberg
Cast: Tom Burton, Costa-Gavras, Michel Gondry, Michel Hazanavicius, Jean Pierre Jeunet, Eric Lange & Nicolas Ricordci

• 66 minutes
• Color
• Sound
• French & English with English subtitles

     _________________________________________

 Bonus Material

LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE / A TRIP TO THE MOON
(France, 1902)

Director: Georges Méliès
Production Company: Star Films, Catalogue No.399-411
Audio Options: 1) Orchestral score by Robert Israel with Méliès-scripted English narration. 
2) Piano accompaniment by Frederick Hodges with actor-voiced characterizations as performed in the U.S. in 1903.
3) Piano accompaniment by Frederick Hodges

• 13 minutes
• B&W
• Silent

◊

INTERVIEW WITH AIR
(France, 2011)

Interviewees: Nicolas Godin & Jean-Benoit Dunckel

• 9 minutes
• Color
• Sound

◊

LA LUNE À UN MÈTRE / THE ASTRONOMER'S WIFE
(France, 1898)

Director: Georges Méliès
Production Company: Star Films, Catalogue No.160-162

• 3 minutes
• B&W
• Silent

◊

ECLIPSE DE SOLEIL EN PLEINE LUNE / THE ECLIPSE, OR THE COURTSHIP OF THE SUN AND THE MOON
(France, 1907)

Director: Georges Méliès
Production Company: Star Films, Catalogue No.961-968

• 9 minutes
• B&W
• Silent

     _________________________________________
     _________________________________________

Total Running Time: 01:57:48 (Blu-ray/DVD)

Language: Silent with English intertitles

Musical Score: AIR. Additional music by Robert Israel, Frederick Hodges, Donald Sosin & Alexander Rannie.

Booklet Text: Tony Maietta & Jeffrey Vance

Published By: Flicker Alley

Institutional Price: $300 (plus shipping)

To order call: 212.280.8654 or click here for information on ordering by fax, e-mail or post.