Watch The Devil and the Statue For Free
The Devil and the Statue
At the beginning of the scene Romeo in his gondola sings to Juliet a sentimental song, then goes away. Hardly has he departed when the colonnade falls to pieces, disclosing the devil. Juliet, frightened, runs to the window and calls Romeo. The latter attempts to enter and protect his fiancée, but at a gesture from the devil the window is instantly covered with a grating and Romeo makes frantic efforts to break it. The devil begins to dance a wild dance before Juliet, who is beside herself from terror. The devil gradually becomes the size of a giant (a novel effect). Juliet implores the statue of Madonna, which becomes animated, descends from its pedestal, and stretching out its arms orders the devil to disappear. (Méliès Catalog)
Watch Trailer
Cast List
Related Movies
Dream of the Moon
Reviews
You won't be disappointed!
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
It seems a woman is confined to a sort of garden area. She says goodbye to a young man and comes back in ecstasy. However, her delight is short lived. Through a door comes the devil. He is quite striking and goes into a really interesting dance. He also grows larger and large. Fortunately, for the young woman, there is a Christian statue that comes to life. I would recommend this, just for the devil-dance.
This is a 2-minute black-and-white film by silent film legend Georges Méliès and it is probably among the earliest films about religion. The devil appears from a cloud and becomes stronger and stronger and bigger in size until, near the end, he is put back in his place again. Méliès used colors on previous works, but not in this one. Shame. A nice red could have elevated this film and the devil a lot. It is also really telling that good prevails in the end. An unhappy ending would actually have been a bit too much for that era, especially for such a sensitive subject. I thought it was an okay watch, but not really among Méliès best I have to say.
Reportedly, this film is set in Venice and the characters in the opening, to the left of your screen, are Romeo and Juliet. This is not obvious in the unfolding story, so you will have to check notes on Georges Melies films. The man leaves the scene early. The woman remains enthralled with her departed lover's serenade. Suddenly, a devilish creature appears in the palace. He frightens the woman and grows larger. And larger. A statue toward the right comes to life and prepares to banish the invader. Filmmaker Melies' main effects are increasing the devil's size and bringing the stature to life.**** Le diable géant ou Le miracle de la madonne (1901) Georges Melies ~ Georges Melies
Devil And The Statue, The (1901) ** (out of 4) aka Le Diable géant ou le miracle de la madone A woman is alone in her bedroom when a statue blows up and the devil himself pops out. This here is a pretty disappointing film from the director because not much happens throughout it. The devil appears in a pretty good sequence but after that he just chases the girl around with nothing happening. There's no magic on display and there's really very little action and how they get rid of the devil is also pretty standard stuff. This certainly isn't one of the director's high points.
