Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Grosstadt (1927)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Walter Ruttmann

Writers:

Karl Freund (writer)
Carl Mayer (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

13 May 1928 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

This movie shows us one day in Berlin, the rhythm of that time, starting at the earliest morning and ends in the deepest night.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Avant Garde | Night Life | Building | Pre War

Cast

Paul von Hindenburg

...

Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Walter Ruttmann		(as Walther Ruttmann)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Karl Freund		writer
Carl Mayer		writer
Walter Ruttmann		writer

Original Music by
Edmund Meisel		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert Baberske
Reimar Kuntze
László Schäffer		(as Laszlo Schäffer)
Karl Freund		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Walter Ruttmann		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Erich Kettelhut		(uncredited)

Production Companies

• Deutsche Vereins-Film
• Les Productions Fox Europa

Distributors

• Fox Film Corporation (1928) (USA) (theatrical)
• Divisa Home Video (2002-????) (Spain) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Edition Filmmuseum (2008) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Berlin, Symphony of a Big City
Berlin: A Symphony of a Big City
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (USA)
Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (USA)
Berlín, sinfonía de una ciudad (Spain) [es]
Berliini - Suurkaupungin sinfonia (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Berlim - Sinfonia da Metrópole (Brazil) [pt]
Berlin - symfonia wielkiego miasta (Poland) [pl]
Berlin, symphonie d'une grande ville (France) [fr]
Berlino - sinfonia di una grande città (Italy) [it]
Verolinon i i symfonia mias megaloupoleos (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

65 min | Finland:79 min

Country:

Germany

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Deutsche Vereins-Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lotte Reiniger: Homage to the Inventor of the Silhouette Film (1999) (V)

Koyaanisqatsi without the pacing

One can understand why this film might be important to the development of a certain film aesthetic. One can understand why it might have been interesting to view back in its day. But (much like Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera) I found it dull to watch today. Much early 20th-century fascination with large machinery, lots of shots alluding to "man as cog in the machine" Leninism, etc etc etc. And, as someone else here has noted, a number of the the "documentary" shots were clearly staged, which undercuts somewhat the life-on-the-street feeling the film is trying to convey.

It is somewhat interesting to see pre-WW2 Berlin, but the editing moves so quickly that one really can't get a good sense of the city. I understand that, arguably, that was part of the point -- e.g. that all cities are the same, but being able to really look at pre-war Berlin might have made it a more intriguing film today.

Overall, to me at least, it felt too much like a series of nickelodeon shorts pieced together for a false, or at least dated, effect.