You could say that Georges Melies was the first magician ever to be captured on film. His technique of stopping the camera, removing or adding an object, and starting it again revolutionized the film making business and changed the way people thought about movies altogether. It wasn't about how well you could record reality or visualize a story, but how different you could make film from a live theater performance. The fact that a human could perform, "real magic" was what made Georges different from other film makers.
Now with better musical accompaniment, this film focuses mostly on a magic show being performed for Georges' audience. I think that the fact that a man could accomplish this effect and showcase it for a magic show, tells something about Georges. I think that just looking at yourself in a film doing the things that he did made him feel powerful. There was definitely an essence of narcissism with some of his work, but in a different way. I think that making films like this gave him allot more strength and questions to how much farther we could go when it came to making movies.
It's funny because I've seen some films where this technique is used, but it's used so much worse than this short. This is basically it. Just a man making a woman disappear in the most efficient way possible. By putting a tablecloth over her head and saying, "presto!" Granted there are other ways, but I think Georges went for the theatrical approach. However this is not, "strictly speaking" a movie. There is no plot whatsoever, but I don't think there was supposed to be. And I don't think that was what Georges wanted film to be in the beginning. It might have just been there to replace live theater, or at least make it much easier to view such things multiple times. If your interested in the renovation of magic simply involving a trick camera rather than anything slight-of-hand, I suppose this is for you.
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