In Osijek zur Zeit der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, Ignaz Reinthaler’s camera focuses mainly on the individual, on the human being, placing itself at his level, while devoting very little space to panoramas of the city and to the highlighting of the places depicted.
Already in the early years following the birth of cinema, there were numerous travel documentaries that showed the beauty not only of Austria, but also of the lands of its empire. And so, in 1913, Menaggio am Comer See (‘Menaggio on Lake Como’), produced by Sascha-Film, also saw the light of day.
While watching Bozen mit dem Luftkurort Gries – one of the oldest travel documentaries produced in Austria – we can enjoy wonderful views of the city of Bozen, continuing on to the small town of Gries, passing through the picturesque mountains of the area.
Of the documentary film S. M. Kaiser Franz Joseph I. kehrt aus seiner Sommerresidenz Bad Ischl zurück (‘His Majesty Emperor Franz Joseph I. returns from his summer residence in Bad Ischl’) – made in 1913 – only a twenty-five-second segment has reached us today. And yet, in spite of this, we cannot fail to acknowledge to a work like this an undoubted historical importance, as well as a great, great fascination.
Zu den Geburtstagsfeierlichkeiten S. M. Kaiser Franz Joseph I. in Ischl (At the birthday party of His Majesty Emperor Franz Joseph I in Ischl), made in 1913, stands for one of the best known and most characteristic documentaries showing us brief moments of the Emperor’s daily life.
Ein Tag aus dem Familienleben des Erzherzog Leopold Salvator (‘a day in the private life of Duke Leopold Salvator together with his family’), made in 1913, despite a very rudimentary direction for the time, is, all in all, enjoyable and pleasant, but also ironic and self-mocking in its simplicity and naivety. At the Viennale 2019, as part of the retrospective dedicated to Louise Kolm-Fleck.