A Constant Forge

This film, “O Dreamland” was shot in 1953 by Lindsay Anderson. The film is a documentary about the theme park Dreamland in Margate, Kent, coincidentally my childhood home. It seems to focus a lot on the bleakness of post-war life, and the lengths entertainers had to go to get a reaction from the audience.I find the cut between the end of the torture amusement scene at the beginning of the film to the park grounds itself quite interesting. It almost seems purposefully cold, like the scenes just shown had no effect on the director of this film, nor the audience watching it. The way the cheery music quickly comes back in makes it feel that the viewer is a patron of the theme park, idly going from one amusement to another, without any kind of emotional response to what was just seen. As someone not from the time I find this quite disturbing, but mostly what I find disturbing is how Dreamland as a theme park has changed from the 1950’s to when it was open when I was a child. When I was a kid it was simply a park with a few decent rides and some carnival stands, nothing as creepy as this.