The last travelogue short in "The Urge to Travel" program from the 39th Pordenone Silent Film Festival, the views of London here are uniquely framed like paintings or still photographs on a wall--you know, except their moving pictures. Title cards also guide the spectator--apparently, sometimes incorrectly, as Pordenone's Jay Weissberg points out (Swedish filmmaker tourists, am I right?), alerting them to views of, say the Queen Victoria Monument, Hyde Park or Tower Bridge. It strikes me as more of an odd stylistic choice to frame the footage, as opposed to a good or particularly interesting decision. The all-time great cinematographer Julius Jaenzon made this one, too, but he did better work elsewhere.
(Note: 35 mm tinted/toned print from the National Film Library, Oslo. There's considerable decomposition in parts of this one which result in a white-out effect.)
(Note: 35 mm tinted/toned print from the National Film Library, Oslo. There's considerable decomposition in parts of this one which result in a white-out effect.)
