I HAVE a theory about why we are still so fascinated by the Victorians.
This theory is the result of, ooh, at least ten seconds' thought and watching Penny Woolcock's lovely, sad, sweet film From The The Sea To The Land Beyond. It's a very simple theory. The reason we're so obsessed with the Victorians is – tah dah – that they were the earliest people we've seen in photographs and on film.
Right at the beginning of Woolcock's film – which is made up found footage she's gleaned mostly from old government information films – we see all these Victorians on the front in Blackpool back in 1900 or so gazing at the camera. They've probably never seen a camera before, but they react the way people always react in front of a camera. They smile. They stare. They gurn. Watching it we can see ourselves. The Georgians were us too, of course, but we haven't got any photographic evidence.
Woolcock's patchwork film - some of it made by great talents, some not, but all edited to a British Sea Power soundtrack – says something about us; about who we are and who we've been. It travels from the Scottish islands to Brighton, from Bass Rock to Blackpool, through war and peace, industry and emptiness. It's history in flickering black and white, deep, saturated mid-century colour and washed-out modern video footage.
About 40 minutes in there is, I reckon, one of the greatest shots in cinema history, when the camera climbs and climbs and climbs up the side of a ship being built, finally reaches the deck and then keeps climbing before tracking round to show us the wide screen picture.
What are we looking at? At all our ghosts. And the changing, changeless sea.
From From The The Sea To The Land Beyond is out on DVD on Monday from the BFI.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article