Cologne (1939)
*** (out of 4)
This amateur film from Cologne, Minnesota features the Guettler family and you have to think that they never imagined that people would be viewing this film decades after it was recorded but the film was selected to the National Film Registry in 2001. The film starts off with a woman writing into a diary, which we get to read via title cards. From here we see dates as well as what the woman did that day or just things she saw. From this point the entire film is basically just footage shot around the city and it includes farm machines, local restaurants, a parade and a social gathering with some turtle soup. We're told in one of the early entries that this town has 350 people and it's this that really makes this film stand out. There's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but I think the film serves a great purpose of showing what a small American town used to be like. I must admit that I was caught up in the poetry beauty of the film and especially the shots high above the city showing what few homes and buildings there were. Another major plus was getting to see various farm equipment and what exactly they were using all these years ago. I doubt many mainstream people will find this entertaining but it's certainly a good reminder of what small towns used to look like.
*** (out of 4)
This amateur film from Cologne, Minnesota features the Guettler family and you have to think that they never imagined that people would be viewing this film decades after it was recorded but the film was selected to the National Film Registry in 2001. The film starts off with a woman writing into a diary, which we get to read via title cards. From here we see dates as well as what the woman did that day or just things she saw. From this point the entire film is basically just footage shot around the city and it includes farm machines, local restaurants, a parade and a social gathering with some turtle soup. We're told in one of the early entries that this town has 350 people and it's this that really makes this film stand out. There's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but I think the film serves a great purpose of showing what a small American town used to be like. I must admit that I was caught up in the poetry beauty of the film and especially the shots high above the city showing what few homes and buildings there were. Another major plus was getting to see various farm equipment and what exactly they were using all these years ago. I doubt many mainstream people will find this entertaining but it's certainly a good reminder of what small towns used to look like.