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

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:

Edited from Odinnadtsatyy (1928)

The reality of life.

The Man with a Movie Camera by Dziga Vertov made in 1929 is a silent film that clams to break away from the use of film cards, actors, and all other theatrical aspects that the film industry had been using as it has been developing. To capture this break from the set standards Vertov filmed life over the course of five to six years then edited down the film and added a score. There is no specific cast, nor a specific narrative them that the film follows. From the very first sequence of images of this film the viewer is brought into a world that focuses on the association of man and machine; how man not only controls the machine, it's out put and maintenance but also how man is like a machine. Man is the driving force of modern society; man is the backbone behind production and advances. Vertov expresses this idea without words, but instead shows a city waking up and dependent on the labor force. The pace of the images flows this slower morning pace to more of a flowing fast pace where images fly past the viewers at such a high rate it is almost impossible to see all action that has taken place. He interlays people and machines in both paces, to show not only the technological advances of that time but to also show how production, machines, and people enjoyment/fascination never stop. There is always this sense of progress. He shows that there is always two sides to every part of life. He shows images of life and death, marriage and divorce, young and old age as well as work and recreation. To offset the impact of all the images of only a workforce life, Vertov shows how society also has sports, games, pubs, and the beach to entertain the masses. The main theme of The Man with a Movie Camera is political. The film shows a Proletariat dominated society under the rule of Lenin. It is a propaganda tool of the time. All scenes show people in mass enjoying and partaking in the same action, whether it be working, travel, or recreation. The film tries to express a feeling of grandeur and delight with a society that shares everything and one that is based on a large working class. The repetitious images of machines and lower class individuals expresses the idea of a structured society that must function properly like a machine; that each person must carry their weight due to the whole nation's as well as society's prosperity being dependent on them. There is no difference of the sexes in this work force. That all individuals work and all do similar jobs. This idea is a complete opposite from Hollywood films and America's mindset of the same era. Vertov created a film where the view felt as if they were being shown a special side of society that not all individuals see. Tricks in editing and in photography allow him to interlay images of the camera and the human eye, which in turn implies the camera is a window into a different world. He wanted to create a film that showed society at the time. A film that broke away from the theatrical mindset that all films of that era followed. He wanted to show how all aspects of society are intertwined and that there is an over all happiness and contentment within Russia under Lenin. This propaganda film was used to invoke emotion as well as a feeling of awe for the association of man and machine.