Reconstructed newsreels by Georges Méliès
Between 1897 and 1902, the French filmmaker Georges Méliès (1861–1938) made numerous actualités reconstituées, a term that can be translated as "reconstructed newsreels" or "reconstructed actualities." Unlike conventional actuality films, which presented real-life events or simple naturalistic scenes filmed in a documentary style, these reconstructed newsreels were dramatically staged reenactments of current events, employing miniature models and theatrical techniques. Méliès particularly focused on capturing the spectacular nature of the events he recreated. While little is known of the release dates for many of Méliès's films, it appears that the reconstructed newsreels were released soon after the events they portrayed, when the news was still fresh in viewers' minds.
These reconstructed newsreels are part of a wider tradition of "faked" news film, a genre very popular in the early years of cinema; between 1894 and 1900, every major film studio regularly produced reenactments of current events. Some of these films were deliberate hoaxes, intended to be misconstrued as actual footage of the events they portrayed; others were made with no intention to mislead audiences, and were designed simply as illustrations of the events. In the case of Méliès, the reconstructed newsreels were deliberately described as reenactments, and were not intended to be misconstrued as real. However, contemporary accounts suggest that some viewers assumed the films were genuine, and a few exhibitors even advertised the films falsely as such. After a sustained period of popularity, the genre fell out of favor in the 1910s, apparently due to growing public distaste for artificiality in film reportage.
Méliès's reconstructed newsreels have been described as an early form of docudrama. They can also be compared to the newspaper and magazine engravings of Méliès's time, many of which made a similar attempt to capture the essence of a news event rather than to simulate it realistically.
The following guide to Méliès's reconstructed newsreels includes the numbers assigned to them in the catalogues of Méliès's studio, the Star Film Company; the original French and English titles; the date of release; and whether the film survives or is presumed lost. Unless otherwise referenced, these data are derived from research published in 2008 by Jacques Malthête and Laurent Mannoni.
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