A Trip to Mars/Himmelskibet (1918) - Danish filmmakers venture into space with hilarious results

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A fantastical illustration of space exploration from a perspective decades before it was actually made possible makes up this striking poster for Holger-Madsen's A Trip to Mars

A flying pioneer gets tasked with traveling to Mars, and soon he has the airship ready for the journey, which charters upon a foreign civilization.

 

A Trip to Mars is written by Ole Olsen and Sophus Michaëlis (Pax Æterna (1917), both) and directed by Holger-Madsen (During the Plague/Mens Pesten Raser (1913)). It is an adaptation of Michaëlis' same-titled novel. The original Danish title translates to 'the sky ship'.

A fascinating and demanding film to watch today, A Trip to Mars has inordinate amounts of text intertitles but it wins on its imaginative and often risible plot and hyper-mannered acting performances. A Trip to Mars really is incredibly funny, though if seen without an accompanying score it may seem a bit dry.

There is no perceivable dichotomy between science and religion here in one of the first major sci-fi films ever made, and possibly the world's first outright space opera, though of course the film is also not exactly scientific. Nevertheless, A Trip to Mars is a fascinating, impressively expansive pioneers' accomplishment in cinema.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[A Trip to Mars was released 22 February (Denmark) and runs 81 minutes. The film was commissioned by Nordisk Film CEO Olsen  , who intended it as a pacifist adventure that should move audiences towards peace in the ongoing World War I. Shooting took place in Denmark. Details about the film's budget, production and release are regrettably scarce, yet it seems that it traveled the world following its 1918 debut. The film has been restored by the Danish Film Institute and is in public domain, so it can be seen free and legally with English subtitles right here. Holger-Madsen returned with Lydia (1918). Gunnar Tolnæs (Lille Dorrit (1924)) returned in Folkets Ven (1918); Lilly Jacobsen (Mod Lyset (1919)) in Testamentets Hemmelighed (1918). 777 IMDb users have given A Trip to Mars a 6.4/10 average rating.]

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