Tonight I braved the chilly evening to attend a documentary screening of a film called Masters of Dreams – The Italian Jewellers at the ROM. When I’d booked to attend I saw that a film would be screened but I thought there’d be a bit more of a lecture about the topic. But it was not to be. The venue was full with about 300 people. I’d arrived near to the start of screening so there were very few seats left so I had to sit at the back. I noticed I was also underdressed compared to the audience (mostly women). I was wearing a pair of green chinos and my new Superman T-shirt. Most others looked a lot smarter than I did.

The documentary was about, as you might have guessed, Italian jewellery designers, specifically the Bulgari, Damiani and Buccellati (I’ve since leaned that this is only one part of a broader set of documentaries about jewellers). The pieces they showed were stunning, including some that looked and moved liked lace. It was fascinating to watch how they actually make the jewellery, from the initial sketches to putting them together. I would have liked to see more about that.

On the whole though, I found the documentary a little lacklustre. Perhaps most annoying for me was the dubbing over of the Italian, which was especially weird in situations where there was more than one person talking at a time so the dubbers had to act it out. This dubbing was useful while watching the documentary because the bottom of the screen was hidden behind people’s heads, but it was an annoying way to translate. What’s wrong with subtitles?

I thought the storytelling could have been finessed a bit. It took a little while to get to the point of why we should be interested in these jewellery houses, and they all lacked conflict (the most intense bit was when Bulgari was bidding on Elizabeth Taylor’s jewels). In the end the stories delivered but they were bit ho-hum.

And finally, the names on shopfronts were inverted, as if you were looking at them in a mirror. There were a few shots on streets (in Beverley Hills for example) and the shop front names were backwards. Really jarring and something that should have been rectified.

After the movie finished, the director stood up to say a few remarks which were mostly about thanking the jewellery houses for it, and a couple of comments about where the film has been and how glad he was to be there at the ROM, but as for anything of actual value, there wasn’t anything. He finished, drinks and nibbles were served. I had a couple of crackers and then came home.