The bell tower of San Marco in Venice collapsed on July 14, 1902. The faithfully reconstructed copy was inaugurated on April 25, 1912. The event naturally appealed to filmmakers (and daydreaming about it: the celebration of such an enormous undertaking inevitably lends itself to film). A profusion of authorities of varying rank and hats of various shapes, musical bands, prelates with cohorts, gondolas, vaporettos and battleships, people having a good time and people who would rather be elsewhere. Not to mention the Italian flag popping up everywhere and the hackles of the carabinieri, both of which put Kinemacolor to the test. And of course all the picture-postcard views that are Venice’s hallmark. And every once in a while, the bell tower makes a fleeting appearance.

Andrea Meneghelli