Le voyage à travers l'impossible (1904)

Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.

Director:

Georges Méliès

Writers:

Georges Méliès, Jules Verne (play)

Stars:

Georges Méliès, Fernande Albany, Jehanne d'Alcy

Cast

Cast overview:
Georges Méliès	...	Mabouloff

Storyline

Before the eminent scientists and members of the renowned geographic society called the Institute of Incoherent Geography, the unconventional and resolute engineer, Mabouloff, lays out his extremely ambitious plans for an unprecedented exploration around the globe. By means of all possible ways of transportation, the enthusiastic travellers start off their impossible voyage from the snow-capped Alps; however, right from the start, calamity strikes. In the end, is man meant to conquer the unfathomable boundaries of earth and space?

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Plot Keywords:

voyage | trip | institute | alps | snow | 

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Genres:

Short | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

29 October 1904 (USA)

Also Known As:

An Impossible Voyage

Company Credits

Production Co:

Georges Méliès,Star-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Color (hand-colored) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

For a few seconds, a pole can clearly be seen holding the anthropomorphic sun up.

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Alternate Versions

Also available in a computer colorized version.

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Connections

Featured in Lights, Camera, Action!: A Century of the Cinema: The Grand Illusion (1996)

User Reviews

Strongly inspired by his earlier film LE VOYAGE DANS LE LUNE, but still very much worth watching

Director Georges Méliès was an absolutely brilliant early filmmaker and innovator. His camera tricks, use of a complex plot and sets, and fun-loving fantasy elements in his films made him the greatest film maker of his day. While I recently read that THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (from Edison Inc.) was the "first full-length film", this simply isn't true, as Méliès' LE VOYAGE DANS LE LUNE (1902) preceded it and was a much more complex film--featuring amazing sets and lots of laughs as a group of scientists take a trip to the moon and meet the evil moon men! Only a year later, in an attempt to outdo his previous success, Méliès made this film about another group of wacky scientists who take a trip to the Sun as well as under the sea!! And, while the original film was a very long 14 minutes (that WAS full-length in its day), this one is 20--making it probably the longest film of its day.

While the new film is obviously strongly derived from the previous Méliès epic, compared to all other films of the day it is still brilliant and not even close to being matched. BUT, my score of 9 is more a way to indicate that it isn't quite as good as his film about the Moon. But, it is still very, very watchable and cute even today (something that can't be said of most other films of the age).

If you want to see this film online, go to Google and type in "Méliès" and then click the video button for a long list of his films that are viewable without special software.