Venice, Rome, Japan, Etc.

This 1900 silent film, shot in crisp black-and-white, strings together five unrelated glimpses of global life, a wordless tapestry of early cinema’s curiosity. Parts 1 and 3 glide through Venice’s shimmering canals—gondolas weave past ivy-draped facades, their reflections rippling, as locals lean from arched bridges. Part 2 roams Rome’s Colosseum—sunlit exteriors reveal weathered stone, while shadowy interiors echo gladiatorial ghosts. Part 4 leaps to Japan: a brief ceremonial nod precedes a sumo match, two towering wrestlers clashing, their grunts implied as a crowd roars. Part 5 races along a river—rowers in slender boats churn water, oars flashing, banks packed with spectators. Without subtitles, the film’s raw visuals—Venice’s liquid grace, Rome’s ancient heft, Japan’s ritual strength, and the race’s kinetic pulse—weave a fleeting, vivid portrait of a world at the century’s turn.