Reflecting on the xx century, we could define it as the most peculiar, eventful span of one hundred years so far. For better or for worse, the world has undergone a variety of significant changes: from airplanes and the internet, to the atomic bomb and mobile phones, the progress has been constant, if not unstoppable.
Bearing that in mind, we should now travel back to the 1920s. More precisely to 1927, the year when cinematographer Claude Friese-Greene filmed his travels across the UK for a project called The Open Road. This adventure resulted in a stunning rare colour footage of London, which captured its soul, along with its most typical places, people and situations. This, so to say, tribute to the city has been eventually restored and re-released by the British Film Institute for a 21st century audience.
[youtube width=”500″ height=”300″ link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgxki8_R968″]
1927: How would you picture London back then? To what extend do you think the capital has changed?
Perhaps driven by a similar curiosity, last year filmmaker Simon Smith decided to re-shoot each of the scenes of Friese-Greene’s footage. Put simply, he made his own matching and modern version of The Open Road project.
Although the video is already beautiful in itself, what makes it more striking and unique is the side-by-side comparison with his ancestor short film.
Watch below.
[vimeo width=”560″ height=”350″ link=”http://vimeo.com/81368735″]
Again, how much (or little) do you believe London has changed over the last 86 years?
Overall, it is a surprise, and surprisingly moving.
