Worth: $16.50
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Cast:
Melbourne buildings
Intro:
...invites viewers to look at the Melbourne CBD with new eyes...
Melbourne’s theatre district is a bright and bustling world of contrasts where contemporary productions are staged in some of the oldest surviving entertainment venues in Australia. The Lost City Of Melbourne offers illuminating insight into the history of these iconic buildings and recognition of the ongoing fight to keep them standing.
Making good use of vintage archival footage alongside maps, photographs, and strikingly detailed art of the city as it has developed over the decades, director Gus Berger speaks to Australian historians, along with local authors and photographers, to piece together this fascinating tale of Melbourne’s architectural treasures.
Snapshots of elegant interiors showcase these landmarks’ evolution from venues built for vaudeville in the 1800s, to theatres redesigned to meet the city’s interest in the ever-evolving art of cinema, to live music venues beloved for their intricate historic design. Decades’ worth of photographs and film provide a visually captivating journey in which the city’s population grows and changes with the times – with clothing becoming progressively shorter and hairstyles longer as the years progress – while the buildings that serve as the backdrop remain unchanged.
Until, that is, the “wrecking spree” of the 1960s. Whelan The Wrecker, a family-owned demolition business established in 1892, simultaneously earned themselves unrivalled success and a deeply tarnished reputation by tearing down some of Melbourne’s most classic architecture in the name of urban progress. The footage of Whelan’s team traipsing over half-destroyed buildings high above the city skyline, balancing their way across precarious piles of brickwork with all the confidence of high-wire circus performers, is captivating to watch. The subsequent slideshow of demolished hotels, music halls, and theatres, however, is far less joyful. The sheer quantity of history lost beneath the sledgehammers of various demolition teams over the years is tragic; it was at its peak during the 1960s, but is hardly a thing of the past, given the destruction of the 108-year-old Palace Theatre in 2020.
Melbourne has long been a city interested in progress, but at what cost? The city itself is an eclectic mix of Victorian architecture nestled amongst striking modern design, a model of diversity that could easily be lost beneath the rubble of one historical monument too many knocked flat to make way for the next parking garage. Berger’s documentary may be aimed at Melbourne-based audiences already predisposed towards the subject, but his passion for the story he’s telling is evident, and invites viewers to look at the Melbourne CBD with new eyes whenever they next find the opportunity to visit.
For all screening and venue information, head to Gusto Films.
