This movie is great. Not only does it show the lengths to which narrative had increased at the time (and Edwin S. Porter's developing skill in creating such narratives), but it's actually a pretty good adaptation of a well known tale if I may say so myself.
Early films often used adaptation as a way of telling a familiar story so that people would understand what's going on with aid of memory along with the general narrative structure. Since I have no idea how this film was regarded back then, I can't really say whether it was effective to that audience or not, but I think today, with our familiarity with cinematic devices, we don't need the help. This movie stands alone pretty well on its own.
It's also very magical, which I enjoy. I love these early fantasy films like La Voyage dans la Lune and Jack and the Beanstalk. It seems fantasy film-making slowed down as film developed, mostly kept to science fiction, and only recently with CGI has been growing again.
--PolarisDiB
Early films often used adaptation as a way of telling a familiar story so that people would understand what's going on with aid of memory along with the general narrative structure. Since I have no idea how this film was regarded back then, I can't really say whether it was effective to that audience or not, but I think today, with our familiarity with cinematic devices, we don't need the help. This movie stands alone pretty well on its own.
It's also very magical, which I enjoy. I love these early fantasy films like La Voyage dans la Lune and Jack and the Beanstalk. It seems fantasy film-making slowed down as film developed, mostly kept to science fiction, and only recently with CGI has been growing again.
--PolarisDiB