Man with a Movie Camera

Bottomless invention and frenetic, dizzying montage make this city symphony one of cinema’s sharpest, most exciting experiences nearly a century after its release, still ranking as one of the essential ingredients of modernist cinema. A decade into his career as both filmmaker and theorist, Dziga Vertov made his best-known and most widely distributed film manifesto. A cameraman tries to capture urban life in Soviet society, home of the ‘New Man’, with all its machine-powered technology. The man with the camera filmed Odessa for 24 hours, starting in the early morning – the city is still asleep, the gears, wheels, and engines are motionless – until the late evening. Gradually the city picks up speed and momentum. This narrative-free portrait of city life – three unidentified cities provided the locations – is propelled by an effervescent delight in the possibilities of film, with its unexpected angles and clashing juxtapositions. Vertov wanted to create an 'absolute film language' that was completely divorced from the language of theatre and literature. The result is an experimental work that makes use of numerous new film techniques, with the montage producing an overwhelming avalanche of footage.

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Direction: Dziga Vertov

Script: Dziga Vertov

Cinematography: Mikhail Kaufman

Editing: Dziga Vertov

Music: Galeshka Moravioff

Production: Studio Dovjenko VUFKU

Format: DCP

Color: B&W

Production Country: USSR

Production Year: 1929

Duration: 67'

Contact: Films Sans Frontières

Awards/Distinctions: The Influentials – Cinema Eye Honors Awards 2014

Dziga Vertov

Filmography

1918 Anniversary of the Revolution
1924 Kino Eye
1929 Man with a Movie Camera
1930 Enthusiasm
1934 Three Songs About Lenin
1941 Blood for Blood, Death for Death