De brug (1928)

Close shots of a railway train underway: track racing underneath, steam escaping, cars coupling, gears ratchetting, signals changing. The train reaches a lift bridge which must rise to ... See full summary »

Director:

Joris Ivens

Storyline

Close shots of a railway train underway: track racing underneath, steam escaping, cars coupling, gears ratchetting, signals changing. The train reaches a lift bridge which must rise to allow a merchantman to pass below... Bridge section and counterweight move choreographically. The balletic motion of beam relative to girder creates an elegant, abstract expression of the precision of technology... The lift operator sets the bridge to the correct height then returns it to the original position. The train carries on its way, passing prosaically over the ship canal.

---

Plot Keywords:

bridge | lift bridge | ship | technology | industrial era | 

---

Genres:

Documentary | Short

---

Details

Country:

Netherlands

Release Date:

13 March 2010 (Greece)

Also Known As:

The Bridge

Filming Locations:

Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company Credits

Production Co:

Capi-Holland

Technical Specs

Runtime:

11 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bridge is in Rotterdam, and it is still there today. It was given the status of monument after Ivens' movie became a success.

---

Connections

Referenced in Allemaal film: Zoeken naar de werkelijkheid (2007)

User Reviews

Dramatic documentary

This impressive film was made the year after the titular bridge (at Rotterdam port) was built. The technical marvel (it could lift up to let ships pass, or down so trains could pass it) is presented with quite some drama. The public-domain version at archive.org has no sound at all, so you can fully concentrate on the visuals (many detail and distance shots of the bridge, the train, the bridge operator, even the camera which wasn't hand-cranked.. I suppose it was clockwork-driven).

A strong, dramatic documentary which somehow gives a soul to the giant contraption of steel and heavy concrete counterweights. Very lovely and fascinating, and much more focused than "Regen" by the same director.

PS: As a Dutch friend told me, the bridge is kept as monument, but fixed in "up" position. Trains now take a tunnel.

PPS: technical marvel yes, but a similar bridge can be seen in "The Hazards of Helen" #26 from 1912 :)