Review of Man with a Movie Camera (1929) by Harpreet S — 03 Dec 2009
This film is a tour de force of cinema. I had the great fortune of seeing this in a theater which had a print of the film, and a live orchestra played in sync with the picture. It is editorially brilliant for early cinema, taking full advantage of Sergei Eisenstein's theories on montage.
The juxtapositions are endless, including birth vs death, the power of nature vs the power of man, and the eye vs the lens to supreme effect. What makes the film so especially remarkable is that it is essentially just a collection of commonplace occurrences that happen in Russian cities in the span of a single day, no narrative attached.
This mirrors when cinema itself actually began, when photographers would go out into the world and simply film everyday things. The difference here is that this film turns everyday occurrences into art.
This review of Man with a Movie Camera (1929) was written by Harpreet S on 03 Dec 2009.
Man with a Movie Camera has generally received very positive reviews.
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