Director Dziga Vertov subscribed to a radical school of filmmaking, casting off the artifice of actors and story. Pure cinema. This film, part documentary part experiment, shows people at work. Doing things and going places, illustrated without title cards. In fact, we see the making the very film we are watching. We see it filmed, edited, and exhibited. Not for a moment are we allowed to forget we are watching a movie. Even the reel changes are announced. Clearly there is another man with another camera, but the technique is quite effective.
“Film buffs” are supposed to like Man with a Movie Camera because, like broccoli, it’s “good for us”. It is a landmark of early cinema. I didn’t, however, actually expect to like it. TCM ran an excellent restoration with a recreation of Vertov’s original score and I don’t recommend watching a lesser copy. The score was quite compelling and made the experience.
Dziga Vertov (whose name literally means spinning, turning) used a number of camera tricks to heighten the experience, many of which he developed. During the editing montage we see how the double exposures were created, the editor (Vertov’s wife) carefully scraping the silver oxide from the celluloid. In other segments we see a factory worker hand pack cigarettes. I found it all fascinating.
There’s not a lot to say here. While it appears to have a narrative, it’s not something easily communicated. Man with a Movie Camera is historically significant, fairly short, and surprisingly entertaining. Watch it. It’s good for you. AMRU 4.
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