From the Pole to the Equator Movie Review

Even if avant-garde film isn't your favorite type of movie, I highly recommend what Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi have done with From the Pole to the Equator. These two filmmakers from Milan assembled their film from 35mm nitrate originals shot in 1910 by early Italian cinematographer Luca Comerio. Comerio traveled with an adventuring baron named Franchetti and captured some extraordinary footage of faraway lands, as well as early films of land and air vehicles. The old movies are in variable condition and are reprinted and hand-tinted by Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi, who add an effective score by California musicians Keith Ullrich and Charles Anderson. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for the full 96 minutes when I saw it in 1987 at the Pacific Film Archive, and I predict that From the Pole to the Equator may have the same effect on those who discover it on a video shelf.

1987 96m/C IT GB D: Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi; M: Keith Ullrich, Charles Anderson.