A Day in Santa Fe

A Day in Santa Fe directed by Lynn Riggs and James Hughes. As the title suggests, the film portrays life in Santa Fe during the course of a single day, a format structuring many city symphonies. Riggs and Hughes evoke daily life in Santa Fe by a series of street views showing the silhouette of a church, pedestrians, cars, an orchestra playing at the Plaza, an artist working in his studio, and so forth. Riggs and Hughes repeatedly link the small-town setting to the surrounding landscape and the natural elements: shots of a walking donkey, shifting clouds, blossoms, or a little bell moving in the wind indicate that nature rather than industrial modernity determines the place. Santa Fe is first and foremost presented as a place of leisure, however, with sequences showing people swimming, having cocktails in a garden, or taking a siesta. – Text Excerpt “The City Symphony Phenomenon”