Contrary to what some others have observed, I don't find this experimental film tedious at all. Certainly, it is priceless as documentation of the fabled Weimar era of this great city — a city that barely existed at all a couple of decades later. Sure, everyone points that out, but as someone who really loves Berlin, I would never minimize or take for granted in any way the importance of that. I see buildings that are long gone. And I look at the faces of these people and I always wonder what happened to them. How many of them were still alive in 1946? We'll never know.
But it's even better when you try to view it with the mindset of the era in which it takes place. Film itself was still a fascinating novelty at the time and the filmmakers were still as excited as kids on Christmas morning trying to see what they could do with it. The machinery and mod cons were evidence of a revolutionary new way of life, and the Berlin lifestyle was at the vanguard. Imagine what people in some of the most backward parts of the world would have thought of this back then had they seen it.
But it's even better when you try to view it with the mindset of the era in which it takes place. Film itself was still a fascinating novelty at the time and the filmmakers were still as excited as kids on Christmas morning trying to see what they could do with it. The machinery and mod cons were evidence of a revolutionary new way of life, and the Berlin lifestyle was at the vanguard. Imagine what people in some of the most backward parts of the world would have thought of this back then had they seen it.