In the present situation, the problem of understanding screen images of pre-revolutionary newsreels is quite acute. With the passage of historical time, the viewer perceives them in a completely different way compared to the time when they were created.Considering the prolonged neglect of pre-revolutionary chronicles, the study of their senses and connotations is innovative and relevant.Visual images require a special approach, since their perception occurs in a different way than that of verbal information. Therefore, their study should be carried out with somewhat different analytical means, which is implemented in this work.The world of on-screen reality of pre-revolutionary newsreels has the qualities of a ghostly world that requires the viewer's trust. We can percept this on-screen reality in its entirety only with the help of our imagination when peering into film images.In addition to the obvious visible meaning, film images of pre-revolutionary newsreels have hidden invisible connotations that can be deciphered only if the viewer has sufficient cinematic experience.This experience allows one to feel the very breath of the bygone life in the newsreel he or she is watching, which is the most important thing in its understanding and interpretation. The prevailing contemporary ideas about the meaning and connotations of pre-revolutionary newsreels have a mythical quality; in this work they are compared to the real content of newsreel images.The present study is supplemented by the analysis of specific prerevolutionary non-fiction films; it will help to achieve a more profound analysis of the meaning of the surviving pre-revolutionary newsreels.