Watch Magic Bricks For Free

good back-story, and good acting

Boring

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

"Magic Bricks" is a French 3-minute short film by Spanish director Segundo de Chomón and those who only know about the very basics of silent film have certainly come across the name already as he comes right after Méliès in a group of prolific and successful filmmakers that also include Griffith for example. But SdC is certainly closer to Méliès from what we see here too. Magic shows were a common subject in these movies that are over a century old, actually almost 110 years old in this case. The big special thing in here, however, is not the plot or the acting or the magic, but the use of color which was really not common at all at that point. Hell half a century later, the majority of films were in black-and-white. So today we of course don't really see color as something special, but back then it absolutely was. Still I would say that everything taken together here, it was not a great film, not among the best of its era or from its filmmaker. I give it a thumbs-down this time.

When it comes to color-stenciling, the Spanish filmmaker Segundo de Chomon knew it all. I do not know him as well as Georges Melies, but when it came to visual effects, Chomon was good at competing with his rival. Unfortunately I don't have many of his films on DVD, it's sad that in Kino's wonderful cinema set they didn't include more of his films because there are only two, this being one of them. However, what this film displays is very good. Not only do we get a great coloring job but also we get some great visuals.First, a Chinese conjurer and his assistant appear in a strange kind of box and make a woman appear in the box. They make her disappear. The conjurers then stack some bricks on a table and knock them off. Then one of the conjurers holds up a piece of paper and the bricks magically move up in front of it. Then pictures appear on the bricks.Segundo de Chomon was a genius. He deserves as much appreciation as Melies.

No doubt this film was intended to wow early 20th century audiences with its conjuring tricks but, of course these are not so impressive today. After all, to show a magician's 'tricks' through the use of stop-motion photography defeats the object really: the magic's being performed behind the camera here rather than in front of it.What I liked about the film was the two Chinese assistants who magically appear from the conjurer's magic box, both grinning inanely with their index fingers pointing skywards. It was probably a racial stereotype back then, but it made me laugh. Check them out holding a smiley, pointy-fingers-in-the-air conversation in the background while the magician goes about his business. Hilarious.

This film has special effects which for it's time are very impressive. Some if it is easily explainable with the scenes played backwards but the overlay of moving images on an object on film is surprisingly well done given that this film was made more than 94 years ago.