Negotiating the bounds of transnational cinema with Georges Méliès, 1896–1908

Abstract

This article examines the respective possibilities and limitations of silent cinema’s transnationalism – its ability to cross national borders – through a case study of some of the ways the films of French filmmaker Georges Méliès circulated internationally between 1896 and 1908. Working toward a historical materialist account of the circulation of early cinema, the article considers a number of obstacles to cinematic transnationalism that were not only cultural (inasmuch as the specificity of many national markets were differently understood), but also material (given the challenges of transporting and securing film commodities) as well as legal (due to the imposition of international tariffs). The article argues that Méliès sought ways to bridge, rather than to emphasize, national differences – in contrast to the approach of such contemporaneous French film producers as the Société Lumière. Méliès’ transnational strategies included producing longer and less nationally specific films for export, making two negatives (which became standard film industry practice until the coming of synchronized sound), opening a branch office in New York, and publishing written descriptions of specific films in French, English, and Spanish. The article also explores how international land and sea transportation networks, the lack of copyright protection, and the theft of film negatives allowed for the transnational circulation of numerous unauthorized copies of Méliès’ films during the early years of the twentieth century. Included are transnational case studies of Le Voyage dans la lune/A Trip to the Moon (1902) and La Légende de Rip van Vinckle/Rip’s Dream (1905).