A treat for lovers of seeing the old filmmaking world in action. Very little of the film has survived (less than a fifth), but it is just enough to penetrate Ambrosio’s studios, glimpse the cameraman turning the crank before ladies of the 1700s, spy on a mise-en-scène of Madama Butterfly, step into a costume workshop, see how even transportation demonstrates the abyss between stars and extras. There is even a plot (imagine a prelude to All About Eve but sweeter), which we will take the luxury here of calling it superfluous. Who knows if the screenwriter appeared in the complete version? Note the name Piccolini (an iteration of small in Italian) connected to metteur en scène. A quick blow to a job considered of little importance?

A small yet invaluable fragment of a metanarrative film. Rodolfi is shooting a “making of”, with spectacular shots of the entrance of Ambrosio’s studios, its sets and all its workers.