THE BRAHMIN AND THE BUTTERFLY (1903)
aka La chrysalide et le papillon d’or
Article 4052 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-7-2012
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: Trick short

A Brahmin lures a caterpillar into a cocoon, where it transforms into a butterfly. However, he makes the mistake of trying to capture the butterfly for his own.

I was expecting little more than another Melies trick short here, but it actually, in its own bare-bones way, tells a story about the error of trying to catch for ourselves what we cannot have. The tricks are a little offbeat this time, such as the effects for the giant crawling caterpillar and the flying butterfly. Though it’s certainly not one of his best, I rather enjoyed this simple little short.