In my opinion, Alice Guy-Blaché's The Magician's Alms is one of her best shorts. First off, it features some of her best jump cuts: a magician makes a table, feast, waiter, and cigar appear for a homeless beggar. My favorite jump cut was when he made the aforementioned waiter appear from a tiny doll that he placed on the ground. But what really sold me on this particular short was its moral. After the magician gives the beggar a meal, new clothes, and his youth back, he tests the man by appearing to him as a beggar himself. When he refuses to give alms to the magician, he removes his disguise and takes back all of the gifts he had given him. By including a moral, Guy-Blaché elevated it from a mere spectacle film.
No comments:
Post a Comment