Chelovek s kino-apparatom (1929)

Director:

Dziga Vertov

Writer:

Dziga Vertov (writer)

Release Date:

12 May 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A cameraman travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.

Plot Keywords:

Urban Life | Double Exposure Effects | Track And Field | Childbirth | Crayfish

Cast

Mikhail Kaufman

...

The cameraman

Directed by
Dziga Vertov

Writing credits
Dziga Vertov		(writer)

Original Music by
Pierre Henry
Nigel Humberstone
Konstantin Listov
Michael Nyman

Cinematography by
Mikhail Kaufman

Film Editing by
Yelizaveta Svilova

Production Companies

• VUFKU

Distributors

• Amkino Corporation (????) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino International (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• New Star (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• BFI Video (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Divisa Home Video (2007) (Spain) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Moskwood Media (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2007) (Italy) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Человек с Киноаппаратом (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Living Russia, or The Man with a Camera (USA)
Man with a Movie Camera (International: English title)
The Man with a Movie Camera
The Man with the Movie Camera
Czlowiek z kamera (Poland) [pl]
Der Mann mit der Kamera (Germany) [de]
El hombre de la cámara (Spain) [es]
Kore ga Russia da (Japan) (theatrical title) [ja]
L'home de la màquina de filmar (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
L'homme à la caméra (France) [fr]
L'uomo con la macchina da presa (Italy) [it]
Mannen med filmkameran (Sweden) [sv]
Mies ja elokuvakamera (Finland) [fi]
O Homem da Câmara de Filmar (Portugal) [pt]
O Homem da Câmera (Brazil) [pt]
O anthropos me tin kinimatografiki mihani (Greece) [el]
Um Homem Com uma Câmera (Brazil) (video title) [pt]

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Australia:G | Netherlands:AL | Finland:S (1965)

Filming Locations:

Kiev, Ukraine

Company:

VUFKU

Trivia:

In 1996 Norwegian composer Geir Jenssen ("aka Biosphere") was commissioned by the Tromsø International Film Festival to write a new soundtrack for the movie, using the director's written instructions for the original accompanying piano player. Jenssen wrote half of the soundtrack, turning the other half to Per Martinsen (aka Mental Overdrive). It was used for the Norwegian version, "Mannen med filmkameraet", at the 1996 TIFF. The scored movie was not available after the festival. Soundtrack released in 2001 on CD.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

All hail Lord Vertov....

Although I had obviously heard of this before watching it, and had been told enthusiastically by all that it was incredibly interesting, I found it hard to believe that a film with a) no storyline, and b) no dialogue or intertitles could be so exciting. I am now more than willing to eat my hat.

This is quite simply the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Probably best described as a documentary about itself (although by no means only this), this film and it's creator were way before their time.

An interesting point to note: I've watched this twice, once with a traditional musical score, and once with a much more dynamic modern score, and it does have to be said that music can make the movie. I'm not a purist, so found the modern score much more interesting.

One of the most essential movies of all time.