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by Various Authors
grade: 7
In Alltag in Steyr, a heartfelt and entertaining tribute to the history of cinema provides a welcome diversion within a documentary characterised by a purely classical directorial approach, which offers us a comprehensive insight into what life was like at the time in the little, picturesque town of Steyr. Restored by Filmarchiv Austria and presented on the Filmarchiv On channel.
Once upon a time in Upper Austria…
The town of Steyr, in Upper Austria, is the third-largest town in the federal state. This particularly picturesque place, where life today seems to flow along peacefully, has, however, experienced some rather difficult times. This was also the case in the interwar period, when, between 1929 and 1930, Steyr-Werke (the city’s most important company) was forced to lay off around 70 per cent of its workers. Just a few years later, however, the Steyr 50 (also known as the Steyr Baby) was launched; by producing small cars, it helped to restore a degree of economic stability to the town. It was precisely during this period – in 1936, to be exact – that the short documentary Alltag in Steyr was made. The film is part of the wider project Alte Städtchen in Österreich, and has recently been restored by Filmarchiv Austria and presented on the Filmarchiv On channel.
A series of brief, rapid shots, then, shows us – just as the title suggests – everyday life in this small town in Upper Austria. Elegant buildings overlook the rivers Enns and Steyr. In the town square, people walk about, going about their daily business. Monuments, churches and breathtaking views accompany us on this brief journey. And so, looking at everything as a whole, we do not get the impression at all that there may have been considerable difficulties in the recent past.
If there is, however, one particular detail that immediately catches our attention whilst watching Alltag in Steyr, it is the sight of several cars driving out of the gates of the aforementioned Steyr 50 factory. What does this scene remind us of? It is impossible, in this case, not to think of the very first film in film history, La Sortie de l’usine Lumière à Lyon, made by the Lumière brothers in 1895, which showed workers, at the end of a day’s work, preparing to leave the Lumière brothers’ own factory to return home.
This, then, is precisely what makes this Alltag in Steyr so distinctive. A sincere and entertaining tribute to film history that serves here as a pleasant diversion within a documentary featuring a purely classical directorial approach, where a series of shots follow one after the other without any captions and with a generally fast-paced edit, so as to offer us a comprehensive overview of what life was like at the time in the small, picturesque town of Steyr. Yet, sadly, this sense of well-being was destined to last only a short while. In the years that followed, as we well know, another war would disrupt that peaceful daily life. When Alltag in Steyr was made, however, no one could yet have imagined this.
Original title: Alte Städtchen in Österreich
Directed by: Various Authors
Country/year: Austria / 1936
Running time: 2’
Genre: documentary
Screenplay: Various Authors
Cinematography: Various Authors
Produced by: Various Authors