Produced by the Post Pictures
Corporation of New York, this is a 15-minute documentary about the
Balkans. Title cards inform the viewer
where the Balkans are, and which countries it comprises: Jugo-Slavia (sic), Bulgaria,
Greece, Albania, Turkey and Roumania (though it adds the last is not properly
part of the peninsula). It then goes on
to list the ethnic diversity of the region.
After these preliminaries the
film shows footage of some of the peoples of the region before noting how the
different groups have often been in conflict with each other. Then there are some generic views of a market
followed by footage shot in various of the regions: Greece, Jugo-Slavia,
Montenegro, Dalmatia, and Turks drinking tea in the street.
Then we get to Romania (7:36) for
literally two shots, introduced by a title card – ‘Roumanian peasants, the only
reliable and trustworthy class in their country’ (if it is any consolation the
film is even ruder about the Turks). In
the first shot, an elderly man walks slowly through a gate, fastens it, picks
up a pitchfork and walks out of shot. In
the second, two men stand and look at the camera while women and men sit in the
background.
Then it is back to generic Balkan
markets, Greek Orthodox priests, newspaper reading while on a pitifully small
donkey in Athens, Bulgaria, Belgrade, and scenes that are merely labelled ‘Balkan’
and could be anywhere, concluding with the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. Much of the film comprises people standing or
sitting while being filmed staring at the camera, in takes longer than
necessary.
The film can be found on YouTube:
