ROME --  The work of Italian brothers Marco and Giorgio Priori, this short but smoothly put-together documentary explores the remarkable rise-and-fall of Dawson City, the focal point of the gold fever which swept the Yukon valley for a few brief years before the turn of the century.

 Made in conjunction with the Canadian Tourism Commission and the Klondike Visitors’ Association, it draws upon interviews and historical archives to tell the intriguing story of the last of the great gold rushes which swept the American continent during the 19th century.

 Before the 1896 discovery of gold, the site was a desolate rural outpost inhabited by a handful of Aboriginal fishermen. The first prospectors, after a thousand mile voyage up the Yukon river, slept alongside the gold fields in their boats - and yet two years later, it was a thriving town of nearly 40,000 boasting its own newspaper. Perhaps even more extraordinarily, in another two years the population had shrunk down to fewer than 8,000.

 It is hard for a modern generation to conceive of the unique combination of economic hardship and ‘go west, young man’ zeitgeist which moved tens of thousands of people (including a young Jack London) to abandon homes and families for the subzero temperatures and constant danger of the remote Canadian hinterland. This was the magnetic power of ‘gold fever’, and the Priori brothers could not have chosen a town which better represents the fickle fortunes of the prospectors - the sudden, heady excitement followed by disillusionment and decay.

  The first half of the documentary recounts the fascinating origins of Dawson City, with input from the staff of the Jack London Museum and the Klondike Vistors’ Association. Their contributions are interesting, certainly, and have a sort of charming raw enthusiasm about them. And yet, some soundbites from academics à la History Channel might have provided valuable additional context.

 The second half jumps forward to the present day where, surprisingly, a few grizzled prospectors still manage to eke out a living from a small patchwork of claims. The documentary follows one of them as he demonstrates the modern techniques of gold panning and bemoans the increasing scarcity of the mineral and the heavy-handed legislation which throttles those prospectors who remain. The main industry in Dawson City is now, predictably, tourism. Every year, the tiny town is overrun with 60,000 visitors to its carefully restored frontier-style buildings. The image we are left with is of a prosperous town which has perversely ensured a secure future through keeping one foot firmly in the 19th century.

  If you’re a North American history buff, you won’t find much new here. Yukon: The Last Rush ambitiously attempts to condense 100 years into just over half an hour, and so the result is a well-made but somewhat breathless gallop through history. It’s a shame, really, because the story is so engagingly told that one only wishes there were a little more of it - as it is, the documentary is too short to be deeply insightful. But as a brief introduction to the fascinating history of the Yukon Gold Rush, it works wonderfully, and it will surely leave you hungering for more.