I am thinking that Chinese woman is dressed in traditional Japanese clothes. As we have discussed caricature is fine when there’s lots of rounded or respectful images to offset it. Short of that, it may be natural/inevitable for people to behave this way when they first encounter the other. It’s like an evolutionary stage, through which we have to pass. Except that we don’t always end up passing through it.
This dance is funny. His films are silent, and I haven’t heard too much discussion about it, but Méliès really is an extraordinarily important pioneer in the development of the musical genre. As often with him, this means not only that he’s formative, but also that he’s exemplary.
The climactic trick isn’t much of a trick. You’re just dissolving!