Islands in the Lagoon (1948)

This is quite an interesting documentary that depicts a Venice that is pretty unrecognisable when compared with the bustling, developed, city now - eighty-odd years later. The lagoon is populated by small boats, the islands by goats and lace-makers. The gulls fly, undisturbed, over the waterways that still show the marker poles to guide the sailing boats from the shoals and shallow water. The Murano glass artists are hard at work turning everything from a bowl to a fully-fledged chandelier and the whole experience, here, is a leisurely paced and relaxed experience depicting just how post war Venice seems little changed over centuries. The narrative is little dry, the score a bit on the soporific side - but it's still a pleasing piece of simply edited, single-camera nostalgia.