Yesterday's Tomorrows (1999)

Yesterday's Tomorrows Poster

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the third of the six films, "Yesterday's Tomorrows," filmmaker Barry Levinson delves into what we, as Americans, thought the future would be as we traveled through the 20th century. Houses and cars of the future, the promise of technology, and the other hopes and dreams of the early part of the century gave way to the fears and anxieties brought about by the atomic age and the Hollywood disaster films that followed. Soon we wondered if we could control technology, or if it would control us. This film is by turns light-hearted and thoughtful, and rare historical and archival film, produced by government and industry, alternates with on-screen interviews with people as diverse as consumer advocate Ralph Nader, cartoonist Matt Groening, futurist Alvin Toffler, comedienne Phyllis Diller, and actor Martin Mull.

Introduction
"Yesterday's Tomorrows" is a 1999 Canadian documentary directed by Barry Greenwald. The documentary is based on development, innovation, and technology developments in the 20th century. Told through a special lens of the forecasts and hopes for the future, the film compares envisaged progress against the real advances that occurred in various locations such as lifestyle, innovation, communications and other aspects of society.

Story Overview
The primary core of "Yesterday's Tomorrows" revolves around a tangible comparative study of what we pictured the future would look like in the early to mid-20th century compared to the reality that occurred. These contrasts are drawn from images and developments promoted at World Fairs which were kept in different parts of the world.

The film goes back in time and navigates through the popular 1939 World's Fair in New York City, where concepts such as Futurama and the World of Tomorrow showcased what life would be like. There were comprehensive developments on display screen in these programs, revealing principles like automatic highways, mechanic butlers, advanced architectural styles, and a look into what specific homes would look like in the future.

Themes
"Yesterday's Tomorrows" handle different styles such as technology, development, and the future. The film mainly contrasts the predicted developments and innovations like the flying vehicle and a robotic housemaid, which were envisaged in the early 20th century, with the technological developments that happened. The documentary likewise looks at the social, political, and financial changes that have actually happened.

Critical Review
The film is engaging and useful in the sense that it highlights how our instant view of the future tends to get ahead of the truth of sluggish and steady technological development. It vigilantly manages to point out we've made advances with differing degrees of success. To some, the film may appear a frustrating reminder of how little development we've made, while others might view it as a testament to human resourcefulness and how far we've come.

Conclusion and Final Reflection
"Yesterday's Tomorrows", although a nostalgic look back, inherently requires its viewers to question their hopes and forecasts for tomorrow. Woven with looks from World's Fairs video, the documentary seems like a window that opens into the past's optimistic and ambitious projections of the future.

This documentary takes a relative and analytical look at the advancement of technology and progress. It helps us comprehend that our creativities and goals can often surpass the useful realities of scientific development. Alternatively, there have actually been other locations where advancement has actually surpassed our dreams, like in mobile interaction and web innovation. In general, "Yesterday's Tomorrows" is an interesting documentary which provides us insightful lessons from history while making us believe seriously of what lies ahead.

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