The Magician (1898) User Reviews

Practically plotless and very familiar.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 7 September 2020]

Georges Méliès made a ton of films where he played a magician doing a stage act in front of the camera. And, using various camera tricks, he was able to make things disappear and re-appear as well as a lot of general craziness. In "Le Magicien" it's all a tad different, as instead of his usual style, this one is much faster and packs a lot of 'magic' into a little over a minute. It's all very good but also very familiar.

By the way, if you care, the clown-like character in white was Pierrot...a character from the Italian Commedia Della'Arte...a popular performing group during the 17th-19th centuries. Georges Méliès seemed obsessed with him and had his appear in dozens of his films...and I'm not exactly sure why.

Too Goofy and Aimless

[MisterSisterFister · 5/10 · 3 November 2018]

It was kinda all over the place, pure nonsense. It was still kinda cool, though, seeing how old it is.

More Tricks, More Education

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 10 November 2017]

Melies introduces us to a magician who performs various tricks where things appear and reappear. He stands before a table which at times acts like a chest, allowing him to leap into it and turn into a clown. There is little new here because Melies has done this kind of thing several times in other short films. Still, the creativity is there and he makes us pay attention.

Excellent, Even Remarkable, For Its Time

[Snow Leopard · 31 October 2005]

This early Georges Méliès feature is excellent, and even remarkable, for a movie made in 1898. Its level of creativity and technical skill are rarely found even in movies made several years later. The story itself is short and not very elaborate, but for a minute or so it keeps you enthralled by the interesting visual effects and illusions, and by how well they work for something made so early in the history of the movies.

Méliès likely modeled this feature after portions of his earlier stage routines, but it's clear that he quickly realized the added potential of film in creating illusions that would impress the viewer. Méliès and a female assistant perform a series of tricks that are similar in style to those familiar from stage magicians of all eras, but some of these could not have been done without the use of film. Disappearances and transformations form most of the illusions, and they are both fun to watch and impressive to see.

What's even more impressive is that this is not the only early Méliès feature to show such skill. Like a number of his other movies, this is worth seeing in itself and as a sign of things to come.

Cute Film Short

[Rainey-Dawn · 10/10 · 11 July 2019]

A very cute and funny film short from George Melies. Worth watching if you want like magic and comedy. It's less than 2 minutes long and worth the time to watch it if you enjoy film shorts.

10/10

Méliès' profession

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 13 October 2013]

With the term "director" still truly uncommon as the description of a profession for movie makers, you could certainly say that Georges Méliès was a professional magician as well. Many of his works put him in that corner much more than the likes of Lumière, Guy or Dickson, so this short film is the perfect description of a work directed by Méliès. Unfortunately the outcome isn't as magical as some of his other works. The only part I really liked was when the clown is about to eat and the table disappears. The rest is terribly incongruent, difficult to understand and occasionally even pointless. It's the most possible amount of action packed into one minute and it clearly hurt the substance (or lack thereof) in this short film. Not recommended.

Mid-Air Transformations and Dismembered Heads

[Cineanalyst · 3 April 2010]

There are a couple novel tricks in this one-minute, one-scene attraction from early cinema pioneer Georges Méliès. "The Magician" is one of the filmmaker's earliest surviving trick films, and it displays many features common throughout his oeuvre. There are appearances, disappearances and transformations of characters and objects, accomplished via editing, which Méliès had been doing in his films since at least "The Vanishing Lady" (Escamotage d'une dame au théâtre Robert Houdin)(1896) (his earliest available trick film). Once again, Méliès also plays the magician in front of the camera, as well as behind it. One of the seeming novelties of "The Magician" is that some of the tricks, or cuts, occur during action—when the characters are moving about or are in a mid-air leap. The magic is created from almost truly invisible editing—cutting on action without any change in camera setup or angle.

The second novelty here is a double exposure. According to historians, Méliès had previously used this technique in "Le cabinet de Méphistophélès" (1897), which is now a lost film. Currently, "The Magician" appears to be the earliest surviving instance of his use of the attraction. In this film, he uses it to show a woman's dismembered head atop a statue stand. The black background gives the trick away and can be seen in many other films where the director employs multiple-exposure photography. The actress would also have been covered in black below her head, so that her body wouldn't register on film. His "The Four Troublesome Heads" (Un home de tête)(1898) took multiple-exposures and disembodied heads further—fivefold, to be precise. Additionally, it seems the most exposures Méliès achieved were seven, such as in "The One-Man Band" (L'homme orchestre)(1900).

Absolutely packed with action from start to finish

[Tornado_Sam · 31 August 2018]

By 1898, Georges Méliès was finally beginning to fully realize the potential of the film edit and how such a simple effect could achieve magnificent illusions on film. Of course, the entire concept wasn't new to him at all; his earliest trick film productions dated back to 1896, the very year he began filmmaking, and they already showed themes of his later work. However, actualities were still a thing (and they would be for another couple years) so the legendary director still couldn't resist filming a few of these little everyday life snippets here and there (which "Panorama From Top of a Moving Train" from the same year is evidence of). In fact, a good deal of his work was indeed still documentary by this point. So when the director made "The Magician" (what else could you call such a short) he was clearly unleashing his magic onto film, exploring all possible uses of the film edit. Like "A Nightmare" from two years before, the whole minute which makes up "The Magician" is packed with action--transformations, appearances and disappearances. There is absolutely no plot of any sorts and it makes no sense at all. But that's Méliès for you.

This 'trick film', as they are called, begins with a wizard (possibly played by Méliès) making a box appear on a table. He dives into the box, and out jumps Pierrot (also possibly played by Méliès since the gestures are similar, but not sure because of lack of beard). The magician is obviously confused as to why he turned into Pierrot, so he sits down at the table. Food appears, he tries to eat and the table vanishes. Next, a man dressed like Shakespeare (Méliès possibly, because of the beard) appears, taps him on the shoulder and he's now a sculptor (played by Méliès for certain). The sculptor now attempts to finish his bust, (which has also appeared) however, it comes to life and scares him. The pedestal disappears and statues of beautiful women appear constantly. Finally, the man dressed as Shakespeare shows up once more and kicks him into the air, and it ends.

Like I said before, "The Magician" makes very little sense. Even the edits in here are a little noticeable and would improve as the director progressed further into trick films. But the superimposing (double exposure) of the bust coming to life looked excellent, considering it was still something the director was experimenting with (and Cineanalyst has pointed out he had used it previously in 1897). It lacks a plot overall but makes up for it in humor and entertainment. I can imagine that audiences in 1898 were truly dazzled by this series of edits.

On a side note, I'd like to point out that reviewer Snow Leopard describes a different film in his review--one which involves Méliès doing tricks with a female assistant. My guess is that the film Snow Leopard saw was not this short, but a different Méliès movie--"The Conjurer" from 1899 (aka "A Turn of the Century Illusionist" on IMDb and "An Up-to-Date Conjurer" elsewhere).

Magician

[Michael_Elliott · 28 March 2008]

Magician, The (1898)

*** (out of 4)

aka Le Magicien

The magic of Melies is on full display here as he plays the title character and we see various magic tricks including a great one of a man jumping into a closed box and then someone else reappearing. If you like your Melies films with magic then this is just the one for you as we get non-stop magic tricks throughout the short running time. There are various sequences with Melies trying to grab for a woman only to have her disappear and then reappear in a different area. There's also a clown on hand who has several tricks pulled on him including some disappearing food. The special effects are very good throughout making this one of the director's better films.