An unconventional form of tourism

Of the depth of knowledge
Voyage au centre de la Terre, a Cinematographic Adventure?
By Réjane Hamus-Vallée
English

From the outset, cinematography has explored the different worlds of Jules Verne’s work. The novel Voyage au centre de la Terre, issued in 1864, is thus adapted on many occasions, in particular at three key moments in the history of cinema : its beginnings (version by Segundo de Chomón in 1910), the standardisation of colour and the beginnings of the crisis of cinema attendance (version by Henry Levin in 1959), and the transition to all-digital movies (the stereoscopic version by Eric Brevig in 2008). How is the spectator to travel under the earth with sounds and moving images? What special effects should be used to give credibility to this centre of the earth and the fantasy it provokes, half realistic, half imaginary? What is left of J. Verne’s original universe, its scientific popularisation and its narrative codes? What is the cinema’s vision of the underground and its inhabitants in these two Hollywood adaptations?

Keywords

  • Jules Verne
  • underground
  • journey
  • cinema
  • special effects
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