The film:

The film is a good example of the“landscape documentary” genre, very fashionable in the early Twentieth century.

In The Gulf of La Spezia, the cameraman makes use of the opportunity of a reiterated panoramic take, starting from different viewpoints, to highlight the suggestive vista of villages seen from the sea. In the episode dedicated to Val D’Aosta, static shots and composite framing are preferred, often surrounded and enhanced by a letterbox frame. The widespread use of letterbox framings strengthens links with picture postcard aesthetics and, more indirectly, with landscape painting. In the Picturesque Lagoon is especially characterised by its breathtaking beginning: the camera approaches the lagoon from the sea, rocking slowly, immersed in a fiery red sunset; after insinuating itself inside Venice through its canals, it will return to the open sea to follow night fishing vessels together with the spectators. 

The film restoration:

The preservation carried out by the Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino, from a tinted and toned nitrate print acquired by the Museum in 1994 with a small collection of landscape documentaries. From a the nitrate print, a dupe negative and a positive color print using the Desmet method were printed on safety film. The process was carried out in 1997 at the Haghefilm laboratory in Amsterdam.

Link Vimeo Cineteca MNC:

https://vimeo.com/85350795

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