The Cinematic Production of Iconic Spaces in Early Films of London

This chapter investigates the relationship between films and exhibitions in London, including newly-built museums, the Crystal Palace and the London Zoo. In particular, it addresses the emergence of exotic or colonial subjects and themes, and the display of technological novelties. In the nineteenth century, a binary opposition between modernity and tradition defined the geographical imagination of the Victorians: this chapter reveals an imaginative landscape of urban culture and the interaction between display and colonial imperialism.