User Reviews

When this Georges Méliès story begins, the very hairy ballet master is busy trying to work out some routine while his maid makes his bed. He reluctantly goes to sleep and soon begins dreaming about dancers. Some women appear on his bed and soon start dancing about the room. Then, for no discernible reason, the setting switches to a cave and more dancing follows. Finally, he awakens and finds it was all a dream.

This is an okay Georges Méliès film. I say okay because women dancing about is one of the filmmaker's most common plot devices. At least in "The Ballet Master's Dream" they actually have a reason to be dancing! Most of the time when women appeared in his film, they danced and danced for no apparent reason other than he liked dancing girls!

The ballet master goes to bed. After a bit of restlessness, what else? He begins to dream. What does he dream about? Yes. You guessed it. Dancing. A couple of dancers come out of his dream and begin to do some terrible dancing. That woman who is better than the rest then begins to dance as well. There's nothing very interesting about this except at one point the ballerina turns into an ugly man and a fight ensues.

This simple and amusing feature is one of the lighter Georges Méliès movies, but it shows his creative touch with a simple subject. It's pleasant to watch, and it features several of his renowned visual effects along the way.

The premise has a ballet master who can't take his mind off of his work, even when it is time to go to sleep, so naturally his state of mind affects his dreams. It is set up efficiently and in such a way that it is easy to relate to. Regardless of one's occupation or how we spend our days, who hasn't had the experience of going to bed while unable to shake off the worries and events of the day? His state of mind makes the feature amusing yet rather thoughtful.

The camera effects in the dream sequence are not as elaborate as those in many other Méliès features, but most of them work well, and though mostly simple, they are enjoyable. The overall effect is of a light, entertaining trifle by a genius who was taking a bit of a respite from his more rigorous efforts.

Ballet Master's Dream, The (1903)

*** (out of 4)

aka Le Reve du maitre de ballet

Amusing, two minute film from Melies has him playing a ballet master who can't keep his work off his mind. Even when he tries to go to sleep images of the ballet are all around him. This is a pretty good little film that gives you a quick view of some of the magic created by the director. The background images are all creative and the ballet dancers are also somewhat fun. This type of film is one the director made several times but he's able to make this one come off very original and enjoyable. I'm sure everyone has had days where they're trying to sleep but can't get their work out of their mind and this film is a good sampling of that.

One of the biggest themes explored throughout the career of the French filmmaker Georges Méliès was dreams. There are numerous reasons one could guess as to why this particular subject was so strongly utilized by him: perhaps he saw framing the films as a dream a good excuse for all sorts of great visual effects; maybe it was also so he could create as many nonsensical things as he wanted to within such a setting. Either way, he normally made excellent use of the effects within these dream films; a few good examples include "A Nightmare" (1896), "The Astronomer's Dream" (1898), and "The Rajah's Dream" (1900). Each one is packed full of action, humor, and creativity; the infamous filmmaker certainly milked the concept for all it was worth, and his films serve as proof of it.

"The Ballet Master's Dream" is not a particularly outstanding example of a dream film by Méliès, particularly in how it is far too simplistic with little in the way of action, but it is executed very well in terms of special effects. This time, the setup is an energetic ballet master who can't keep his mind off his work, so he goes to bed and dreams of the usual Méliès dancing girls. Surprisingly, unlike other dream films involving dancing like "A Crazy Composer" (1905), there are fewer dancers and if anything, the one that really steals the show is the eccentric played by Zizi Papillion, who appears after the setting inexplicably changes to a grotto. A few substitution splices and one use of superimposing are utilized, but the majority of the film lacks a lot of action and consists of mostly dance showcasing mixed with a few moments of humor.

While not especially great compared to other more superior efforts, the film as always has the Méliès charm that abounds in most of his pictures, and the comedy and effects are both pulled off well. Not very good when compared to other dream films, but for what it is it's executed quite well.