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by Various Authors
grade: 7
Die alte Hungerburgbahn adopts a purely classic and linear directorial approach which, further enriched by a welcome touch of irony, has proved to be the right way to give us a comprehensive insight into life in that corner of Tyrol a few years after the end of World War I. Restored by Filmarchiv Austria and presented on the Filmarchiv On channel.
Towards the Tyrolean mountains
What could be better than a lovely panoramic ride from the city to a nearby mountain range, passing close to watercourses whilst admiring the landscape from above? The old Hungerburg funicular, 839 metres long and linking the city of Innsbruck to the Nordkette mountain range, was inaugurated on September 12, 1906, and served both as a means of transport for the Hungerburg district and as a tourist attraction in its own right, before its permanent closure on December 8, 2005, when it was replaced by a new funicular designed by Zaha Hadid. In this regard, therefore, the short documentary Die alte Hungerburgbahn, made in 1922 as part of the wider project Völkerbund-Film Vorarlberg und Tirol. Landschaften und Städte in den 1920-er Jahren, recently restored by Filmarchiv Austria and shown on the Filmarchiv On channel, offers us a unique insight into what this reality was like.
A friendly gentleman looks straight into the camera whilst smoking his pipe and smiling. Meanwhile, the residents of Innsbruck walk through the city’s streets, going about their daily business. And whilst imposing and elegant buildings, monuments and even the municipal theatre immediately strike us with their grandeur, we slowly make our way to the destination of our journey. The Hungerburg funicular has just set off. Dozens of people (many of them, no doubt, tourists) are admiring the scenery from the carriages. The atmosphere is very festive and cheerful. As the journey continues, the mountains grow ever more imposing, until, at last, we reach our destination.
With its short running time of around two minutes, therefore, Die alte Hungerburgbahn does a fine job of showcasing the aforementioned funicular, along with, of course, the city of Innsbruck itself and the beauty of its landscapes. And it does all this by adopting, from beginning to end, a purely classical directorial approach, devoid of any kind of virtuosity, which – further enriched by a welcome touch of irony – has proved to be the right solution for giving us a comprehensive insight into life in that corner of Tyrol a few years after the end of World War I.
And so, this short and interesting Die alte Hungerburgbahn fits perfectly within the standards of most of the documentaries produced in Austria at the time, with the aim of showing the nation and the rest of the world that, despite the times not always being easy, a certain level of well-being and prosperity were practically commonplace. Taken together, these works now represent a valuable historical document. A fascinating testament to an era when the desire to start afresh and regain a certain stability was stronger than ever.
Original title: Völkerbund-Film Vorarlberg und Tirol. Landschaften und Städte in den 1920-er Jahren
Directed by: Various Authors
Country/year: Austria / 1922
Running time: 2’
Genre: documentary
Screenplay: Various Authors
Cinematography: Various Authors
Produced by: Various Authors