03/22/06 Man With The Movie Camera

Man With The Movie Camera (1929), directed by Dziga Vertov

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

Pure original and experimental film, one that is a major influence on cinema even today. This Russian film, set in the late Lenin-era of the Soviet Union and early days of moving pictures, is a documentation of everyday life and society. Relying heavily on the childlike fascination with a new medium, Vertov employs the technique of a film within a film in order to make his commentary. Using tons of special effects (i.e. stop animation, split screens, stills/action splicing, art posters/signage, clever shooting angles/props), the movie captures aspects of life as if the lens of the camera were the point of view of a personal diary. It's an extreme juxtaposition of subject matter as varied as marriage/divorce, play/work, human/machine, clean/dirty, proletariat/aristocrat, birth/death. It also focuses on the era that was industrialism and thriving, showing factory settings, mine shafts, athletics, art, and vehicular street life. Images are all set to the updated score of tempos that range from haunting, playful and militaristic; like a late night techno video on MTV's "Amp." All the frenetic editing (which is also layered into the actual images on film), keeps you glued to the screen. This is one that is analyzed to death in film studies college course, and over-appreciated in fancy museums of modern art (Although it took my beautiful girlfriend to introduce me to its genius) . Simple in title, as form follows function, the film is described as "part documentary, part magic show." On with the show...

5 out of 5 stars