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It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

While this documentary is certainly not what's going to impress nor interest the people of today, for the time it was made this is pretty good. The photography, as Snow Leopard has pointed out, is simply beautiful and well-done, and practically every scene in here has a pan of the camera to capture more. The views are also good. Sometimes the scenes are just beautiful, and other times they are historic. It doesn't matter. Today, it might not be of much interest to anyone but historians or film buffs, but for the time the people in France (it was produced by Pathe Freres despite being made by a German) must have found it interesting to see sights from across the world. I am not sure if IMDb's year is right or not--Kino's "The Movies Begin" DVD set claims it was shot in 1908. In any case it's impressive for either date. (Note: Note that lots of the people featured here stare stupidly at the camera, curious what it's doing there. They knew nothing of filmmaking, and weren't used to people filming them).

This is really quite a beautiful film with some incredibly impressive cinematography for the time. Featuring scenes from a snow-covered Moscow, we are treated to shots of various parts of the city which capture the vibrancy and variety that can be found at any time in any city. Of course, as this film is over one hundred years old it gives us a glimpse into a world that would normally be lost to us. This was a world in which the Romanovs still ruled and cars, although invented, were still things that belonged in the future.While the shots of Moscow's remarkable architecture are fascinating, it's the scenes in which we meet the city's residents that are the most entertaining. Today, they would mug and wave while they talked to their mates on their mobiles, but in this simple age they simply stare at the camera with frank curiosity. One chap enters from stage left so quickly and so suddenly you can almost see him vibrating like a plucked string when he comes to a stop.

This very interesting and sometimes beautiful collection of Moscow winter scenes has excellent photography, with a very well-chosen assortment of settings, and it has also been well-preserved over the years. The sights range from panoramic views of majestic buildings, to busy street scenes, to placid residential settings. The camera work could not have been much better, and it does a good job of making you feel as if you were there as an observer. With its importance and its long history, Moscow has an impressive array of public and governmental buildings that few cities can match, and this is brought out well here. Then too, seeing the city when everything is covered with snow seems particularly appropriate.This kind of filmed record of a distant place and time makes very interesting viewing when it is done well. It gives you a chance to see different sights and ways of living, but if you watch perceptively, you can also see how similar the essentials of daily life really are across time and place. There is a nicely done view of a street scene that goes on for some time, showing crowds scurrying along, and vehicles dashing back-and-forth. To be sure, the vehicles are horse-drawn, and no doubt there were many items in those stores that we would not find in our homes now, but the nature of the activity is still a familiar feature of any city. Then also, some of the scenes of residential areas could almost have been taken in a recent Midwestern winter. No doubt, different viewers will have different impressions, but in any case this is a nicely done feature that provides interesting sights worth seeing and thinking about.

Run segment 4 first, then segment 1 (the first half, up to where the column of soldiers passes the broken bell) and it could almost be the introduction to a James Bond spy thriller. Didja notice in segment 2 (just after the mushroom market scene) that even in those days there were both hams and people who were camera-shy?