As another reviewer has pointed out, this film stands out from its contemporaries thanks to the unusual angle from which it is shot - at an angle from above the visitors and traders at a fish market - and for the fact that it is a very rare example of an early panning shot. The downside is the fact that the camera's distance from the subject matter and the fact that the film is silent serves to distance the viewer from what is taking place. It's a bit like watching from a room with double-glazed windows. The scene is still reasonably interesting for the glimpse it gives us of a bygone age, but it fails to capture the flavour of the market the way other films of the time that are shot on the street do.
4 Reviews
Resourceful & Interesting
Snow Leopard21 April 2005
The resourceful use of the camera makes this a pretty interesting short feature. In showing a view of a street market, it makes use of an overhead angle, presumably taken from a nearby building, and it slowly pans down the street. The technique by pioneer cinematographer Edwin S. Porter is quite inventive for its time, and it turns what could have been a fairly plain scene into an interesting and lively two minutes of footage.
Thanks to the good camera usage, it shows many different sellers and customers in the fish market, and catches a good deal of detail. It's also interesting to watch for those in the crowd who realize that they are being photographed. The children seem to be more likely to notice the camera than the adults, but there is one man whose amusing reaction reveals a rather low opinion of the camera's activities.
Most of the activity in the footage centers on the simple and expected sights from an outdoor marketplace, yet it works well, and it does a good job of conveying the atmosphere of the setting. This feature is worth seeing both for the interesting footage of its times, and for the good technique.
Thanks to the good camera usage, it shows many different sellers and customers in the fish market, and catches a good deal of detail. It's also interesting to watch for those in the crowd who realize that they are being photographed. The children seem to be more likely to notice the camera than the adults, but there is one man whose amusing reaction reveals a rather low opinion of the camera's activities.
Most of the activity in the footage centers on the simple and expected sights from an outdoor marketplace, yet it works well, and it does a good job of conveying the atmosphere of the setting. This feature is worth seeing both for the interesting footage of its times, and for the good technique.
Ken Jacobs' Version
jkhuysmans07 April 2008
"Well, I usually take short lengths of film and pore over them, or pour into them. Dig into them. So it's mining. And I'm looking for things that literally you just don't see when it zips by at 24 frames per second, normal sound speed. Film is a relation of frame to frame to frame, and I am also declaring relations of one frame with another frame. I want to see what can be done between those two frames and then, maybe frame A and frame B, and then frame B frame C. Okay? It definitely is a dig. What I'm after, of course, is vital, interesting, amusing, crazy-making stuff." -Ken Jacobs
This is a new visual take on some very old (Thomas Edison) filmic material. Few examples like it exist, if any at all, in the NetFlix catalog. The only other place you'll find entertainments such as this one is at a major museum of modern art.
It's unfortunate, but at this phase in time, New York Fishmarket Ghetto communicates specifically and expressly to an elite viewer and, having it there, on NetFlix, throws the film itself into a state of disorientation while it is distributed as an anomalous cultural artifact in a non-elite venue, thus slaking its traditional place in the web of relations we call the world.
Interpretations are useless, however, I urge the curious viewer not familiar with the work and goals of Ken Jacobs to have a confrontation New York Gehtto Fishmarket 1903 and take some its valuable lessons with him next time he is settling in with a classical realist narrative film. Excellent. (But not for epileptics).
This is a new visual take on some very old (Thomas Edison) filmic material. Few examples like it exist, if any at all, in the NetFlix catalog. The only other place you'll find entertainments such as this one is at a major museum of modern art.
It's unfortunate, but at this phase in time, New York Fishmarket Ghetto communicates specifically and expressly to an elite viewer and, having it there, on NetFlix, throws the film itself into a state of disorientation while it is distributed as an anomalous cultural artifact in a non-elite venue, thus slaking its traditional place in the web of relations we call the world.
Interpretations are useless, however, I urge the curious viewer not familiar with the work and goals of Ken Jacobs to have a confrontation New York Gehtto Fishmarket 1903 and take some its valuable lessons with him next time he is settling in with a classical realist narrative film. Excellent. (But not for epileptics).
New York City Fish Market
Michael_Elliott17 August 2015
New York City 'Ghetto' Fish Market (1903)
This film clocks in at just three minutes but it's a terrific way to be able to see what a fish market in New York was like in 1903. The camera is set up on what appears to be a roof and it overlooks the fish market and the various activities that are going on. We get to see sellers showing off their items as well as shoppers going from table to table looking for what they're wanting. I've often said that the main reason to watch these early movies are to see how things really were a hundred years ago. Hollywood can re-create these time periods but it's something special to see actual footage from that period. Getting to see the costumes, the bikes and various other items from the period is what makes this so fun.
This film clocks in at just three minutes but it's a terrific way to be able to see what a fish market in New York was like in 1903. The camera is set up on what appears to be a roof and it overlooks the fish market and the various activities that are going on. We get to see sellers showing off their items as well as shoppers going from table to table looking for what they're wanting. I've often said that the main reason to watch these early movies are to see how things really were a hundred years ago. Hollywood can re-create these time periods but it's something special to see actual footage from that period. Getting to see the costumes, the bikes and various other items from the period is what makes this so fun.
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