← Back to Cinema Atlas
Discover great cinema and the connections that made it possible.
Éclipse du soleil en pleine lune
FRANCE · 1907

Éclipse du soleil en pleine lune

Georges Méliès
astronomy celestial observation hubris and folly medieval education consequences of curiosity
Watch on MUBI → Stream on Criterion →

Synopsis

In this film, Méliès concocts a combination fairy- and morality tale about the foolishness of trying to look too deeply into the workings of an unstable and inscrutable universe. At a medieval school, an old astronomer begins to teach a class of young men, all armed with telescopes, about the art of scrutinising an imminent eclipse. When a mechanical clock strikes twelve, all the young men rush to the windows and fix their telescopes on the heavens.

More from Georges Méliès

France · European Art Cinema
A Trip to the Moon
1902 • France
View →
La Magie Méliès (Jacques Meny
1997 • France
View →
Georges Méliès: Cinema Magician (Patrick Montgomery & Luciano Martinengo
1978 • France
View →