Rough Sea at Roker (1901)

Roker
1 Jan 1901
Silent
1m

Mesmerising film of sea waves on the north east coast of England.

These two different views of sea waves at Roker on England's north east coast illustrate the popularity of this type of subject in the early years of cinema. The first, a frontal view of the shallow, sandy beach, is as satisfyingly hypnotic now as it must have been when Mitchell & Kenyon filmed it one sunny day in 1901. It's interesting to reflect that some things look exactly the same over time.

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From the collection

Sea Wave Films

The 'sea wave' genre might be one of the more surprising genres to come out of early film. But for Victorian audiences there was something hypnotic about these compact studies of movement.

Surely most of us, if we've ever stood before the sea have found ourselves transfixed by the rhythms of gently lapping waves. The violent churn of a really rough sea gives us something else again - a real sense of the ocean's magnificent, sometimes alarming power.