The film industry was only 11 years old at this point in time. Film director and illusionist, Georges Melies had already made hundreds, maybe thousands of films, by this point in film history. It is a shame the quality of this film (at least the version I saw), is so bad today. This film has not weathered the sands of time well. From what I have read, the current state of this film is missing certain parts to it. Parts that may be lost forever. The full runtime was 14 minutes, but only ten minutes has survived to today. There is a whole beginning that is missing. The whole point of the film is a fisherman falls asleep and dreams all of what is happening, which you never see in the film's current condition. The version I saw also looked like the emulsion was wearing off on the film cells. The whites and blacks were very muddy and the exposure seemed way blown out.
The film follows many of Melies cliches', like dancing girls leading a parade, of sorts, as the crew climbs onto the submarine, that takes them on this adventure. Dancing creatures are found on their mission too. Lots of parading and celebrating. It is reminiscent of Melies' legendary, A Trip to the Moon (1902), but by 1907 was starting to look repetitive. Being an illusionist, he utilized a lot of the spectacle of theater in a lot of his films. He always had dancing or singing acts set up on a stage in between the moments of fantasy. It was the special effects he used, which was really the draw for his films. It was the experimentation by a pioneering spirit, that was his strong point.
This film is no where near as good as A Trip to the Moon (1902), but is still an important artifact to see. Being based off of Jules Verne literary classic makes it interesting to see. First off, it is considered a parody, so don't feel that the subject matter is silly. It's supposed to be. One particular thing that caught my eye was seeing our hero, Ives, the fisherman, searching through a cave full of treasure. If you look closely and the bright emulsion lets up just a little, you can see that Ives is wearing a horizontally striped shirt. Even though this film is in black and white, it clearly foreshadows the famous red and white shirt that Kirk Douglas wears, in the famous Disney film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Even though Douglas' character is named Ned, it still shows a connection to this film, with the striped shirt. This film is still a must see. Hopefully someone finds a better copy in a closet or an old factory somewhere.
6.9 (C MyGrade) = 7 IMDB.