Mitteleuropa
Three-part documentary series
SBS Television
Begins Sunday, November 8, at 7.30 p.m.
Part One: From the Balkan Wars to the invasion of Poland
Reviewed by Peter Anderson
A lot more attention has been focussed on the Central European region since the events of 1989. Regarded often as rather obscure and quaint, these countries, rich in history and culture, have in fact been at the centre of many crucially important events in the 20th century, not least of which were major revolutions and two world wars.
It is a little surprising therefore that for many of us knowledge of the region and its history is so limited. Mitteleuropa helps to fill in some of the blanks.
From start to finish, this first one-hour episode is a collage of original film footage from the first half of the century. A voice over simply narrates the major events of the period, underscoring what is in fact a pictorial chronology of the period.
From the 1912 Balkan Wars through the collapse of Central and Eastern Europe's three major empires — the Austro-Hungarian, Habsburg and Russian — the Hungarian revolution, the formation of Czechoslovakia and the reunion of Poland to the opening of World War II, Mitteleuropa part one sketches great events, but never attempts to explain or analyse.
Scenes of Budapest, Prague and Warsaw at the turn of the century are fascinating, as are shots of Ruthenian peasants, Hungarian folk dancers and frolicking Czech priests playing football.
While in the Ukraine in the 1920s peasants still harvested wheat with scythe and wooden cart, Henry Ford was building a motor car empire in the United States, a contrast not attempted by Mitteleuropa but one that goes a long way to explaining some of the region's past and present problems.
This is a very accessible documentary, good for those who know little about the region but also for those who simply want to see it mapped out in one piece. Unfortunately, the commentary is marred by mispronunciation of some Slavic words — surprising considering the participation of people from the region in the production.
Produced from authentic newsreel footage from the French archives of the Gaumont film company, much of the footage will be new to modern audiences. Formed in 1895 by Leon Gaumont, this French enterprise is the oldest extant film company in the world. The company maintained archives of newsreels shot between 1900 and 1974, when the newsreel department was disbanded.
Episode two on November 15 covers the years 1939 to 1953, from the Stalin-Hitler Pact to the beginning of the Cold War. Episode three on November 22 spans the years to 1991 and includes the Hungarian uprising, the Prague Spring, the birth of Polish Solidarity and the .
If the rest of it is comparable to the first episode, it is a series worth watching.