Review of Man with a Movie Camera (1929) by Alex K — 30 Jun 2013

In Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera, we see a great feat of cinematic experimentation pulled off with style and imagination at a critical point in the history of Russia and Cinema. I don't want to give a mundane lesson on Russian film history; I don't know much about it, and as my understanding expands, my appreciation for Vertov's film doesn't so much expand but come more into focus.

On a completely funademental level, seperate from all knowledge of it's historical context, I enjoyed it. It's a toss up of the narrative and a refusal to accept the conventional documentary style.

It's a moving news article, a warping painting. Vertov cuts, splices, and chops his way through a day in the life of a city in Russia, and we travel through a multitude of scenes, some seeming to be simply observed while others are clearly set up.

We see busy city streets and individuals getting up and getting dressed. Complex workings of factories and people recreating, playing sports. Vertov superimposes himself into the film, reminding the audience that he is capturing the world, and in his art, he will go anywhere he needs to as he becomes unusually small and large, travelling around.

He communicates his job as a filmmaker to be one of necessity through his own inclusion with the factory workers, store owners, and business men we see in the film. Vertov has created a movie that accomplishes a surreal level astounding for a documentary, and Man With The Movie Camera is an unbelievably interesting pursuit of a unique style.