Suicide of Colonel Henry (1899) User Reviews (2)

Dreyfus 4 of 8

[Michael_Elliott · 28 March 2008]

Dreyfus Court Martial - Arrest of Dreyfuss (1899)

Dreyfus: Devil's Island - Within the Palisade (1899)

Dreyfus Put in Irons (1899)

Dreyfuss Dreyfus: Suicide of Colonel Henry (1899)

Landing of Dreyfus at Quiberon (1899)

Dreyfus Meets His Wife at Rennes (1899)

The Fight of Reporters (1899)

Dreyfus: The Court Martial at rennes (1899)

This here is a eight-film series centering around one character and I must say I don't really understand what Melies was going for unless he was simply trying to make nine different movies to sell to people and earn more money by doing it. None of the nine films are very interesting but put together I guess they hold some interest but none of them are entertaining enough to make the series work. You can read the titles and know exactly what happens as each film runs just over a minute and nothing too special happens in any of them. The most interesting one is Landing of Dreyfus at Quiberon as it does contain some special effects in the form of a lightening storm but these effects aren't too good as several of the lightening strikes hit the people in the action but of course they don't feel it.

The Dreyfus Affair #5

[Tornado_Sam · 20 September 2018]

For a good chunk of his output in 1899, Georges Méliès committed himself to creating a series of short films detailing the events of the Dreyfus Affair political scandal, which was still progressing in France as the series was made. The serial, centering around Capt. Alfred Dreyfus who was accused of writing treasonous letters and discharged as a result, flared up the public which had already been divided into two groups: the Dreyfusards and the Anti-Dreyfusards (Méliès was one of the former). In the end, censorship was the answer--theater owners couldn't handle the disputes that the serial caused during showings. Thus, "The Dreyfus Affair" is now considered the first censored political movie.

"Suicide of Colonel Henry" may be my favorite film in the series, due to its incredibly realistic prison set, incredibly realistic gore effect (chocolate sauce?) and the incredibly well-played acting on the part of the actor (now unfortunately unidentified, alas). It also plays a major part in the development of the story. Apparently, Colonel Henry was the one who had framed poor Dreyfus, and having confessed under pressure, was sent to prison. His suicidal hesitance is well delivered in this surprisingly violent movie for the time. While limited within the constraints of the studio, Méliès always made sure his movies looked as realistic as possible, and this one still retains its realism today in its accurate detail.