THE MERMAID (1904)
Article #373 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 3-23-2002
Posting date: 8-9-2002

There’s no plot to speak of in this Melies’ short; it’s just a series of setpieces that begins with a man filling up a fishtank of water and ends with him turning into Neptune, God of the Seas. It’s pretty much cinema as magic act, and clearly one of those movies in which the special effects are everything. It’s impressive to watch, but doesn’t really give me much to write about it.