'The Genii of Fire' is hot stuff

The Genii of Fire (1908)
Starring: Anonymous Actors
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

In ancient Persia, a wealthy couple trespasses in a temple for the worship of fire genies... and are punished for it. 

"The Genii of Fire" is another great fantasy film from Georges Méliès, a guy who was making better movies before they'd even been fully invented than most filmmakers working today. He had been making these short films for over a decade at this point, and it shows. 

In this film, Méliès stages complex scenes involving a dozen actors interacting with each other as well as facilitating the film's effects which are a mix of the now-expected appearing and disappearing creatures and items, with some very nice pyrotechnics thrown in. It's rare that I am impressed with performances from actors in a Méliès film, but here we have an exception. While there are a few moments of what I assume is unintentional comedy, we are also treated to a bit where the cultists arrive in the temple, find the couple checking it out, and have an absolutely hilarious "what the hell are these two idiots doing here?" reaction. What makes the reaction funny is that it is subtle--there's none of the over--emoting or mugging or any of the typical early silent movie "acting techniques" but just good, solid acting. 

"The Genii of Fire" would be a solid Ten if Méliès had come up with a better way to end it. On the one hand, it's nice to see some honest-to-God story structure since so many of his films are, at best, vignettes, but on the other hand... well, I don't want to spoil anything for those who rightly take a few minutes to watch this great little film.