Year: 1912
Director: Georges Melies
Country: France
Language: N/A
Georges Melies had witnessed a lot of events throughout his tenure as an Early Filmmaker. He was there for the Nickelodeon Era of Edwin Porter and the Lumiere Brothers, he witnessed the rise of D.W Griffith and he had seen the early pictures of Charles Chaplin. In his career films would increase in length, from a mere 10 seconds to a 3 hours or more. Melies had seen so much in 20 years, and had made quite memorable pictures.
Like many of Melies' pictures, Conquest of the Pole is an adventure film. It is about a group of people planning to go to the North Pole.
Conquest of the Pole might be Melies most complex work. His last major achievement, before he would go bankrupt and stop making films altogether, it is a rather riveting science fiction film not unlike the films like A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904) that made him an international success a decade earlier.
In Conquest, as in earlier adventure films, we begin with a meeting of scientists in a great academy, debating the merits of the voyage and the means of executing it.We see the bizarre craft being built and the voyage itself. Melies is known for his special effects work, and while that is impressive here, the most notable achievement in this film is the story. Its unpredictable, entertaining and filled to the bring with exciting pacing.
With this film, Melies creates a cast of memorable characters played by remarkable actors. He makes great use of every cinematic tool at his disposal and proves himself to be a master of his craft. This truly is a wonderful film.
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