Back home

Man with a Movie Camera

774 votes

Producing House

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

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1929-05-12

Runtime: 68 mins

Director: Dziga Vertov

Writer: Dziga Vertov

Spoken language: No Language

Genres: Documentary

Original title: Man with a Movie Camera

Production Companies: VUFKU

Production Countries: Soviet Union

Reviews

G

Geronimo1967
Could this be the original observational documentary? We begin as the audience flood into a cinema and settle down in front of the big screen. The cameraman then takes us on a tour of his city with no apparent rhyme nor reason to the imagery we see. There's a bit of the old Imperial opulence reflected in the architecture to contrast with the street beggars (whom the Soviet Union aways denied existed). A very near miss whilst trying to get some POV footage of a train. Then what feels rather pruriently like a look at a woman's morning levée all intercut cleverly using the camera shutter to deliver this in chapters as their city awakens and the trams start to run, the bustle sets in and the industry comes alive. The photography frequently captures the intricacy of different manufacturing processes - both with and without human input, the latter sometimes being quite labour intensive. People mill about like ants racing to and fro and the cameraman himself appears in shot now and again to add additional context to this remarkably captivating look at a day in the life of an huge variety of people and activities - including a wedding and funeral. What's quite astonishing is the quality of the film. It's almost pristine, almost a century after it was made, and there are even some very basic visual effects merging the images and creatively capturing the lives of the community. It's barely an hour long, but effectively combines pictures of the serious and professional as well as the mischievous and playful and it's well worth a gander.
2024-07-13

Recommendations

Correspondance privée sur un lieu public
0

Correspondance privée sur un lieu public

1988-08-06

I started from the assumption that the discourse about the hospital could be the objective pretext f

Decasia: The State of Decay
3.2

Decasia: The State of Decay

2002-01-24

A meditation on the human quest to transcend physicality, constructed from decaying archival footage

Adios amigo mío, sin gestos, sin palabras
0

Adios amigo mío, sin gestos, sin palabras

2015-10-14

The title comes from Sergei Yesenin's last poem before comiting suicide. Using Virginia Woolf's last

Broads
0

Broads

1989-10-02

The social democrats of the sixties and seventies worked on their grand plan to build a highway netw

International Dances
0

International Dances

1901-04-09

A short dance film in Pathécolor, also know as stencil colouring. The editing cuts correspond with t

The Paper Brigade
3

The Paper Brigade

2018-03-15

Lithuania, 1941, during World War II. Hundreds of thousands of texts on Jewish culture, stolen by th

The Great Ice-Cream Robbery
0

The Great Ice-Cream Robbery

1971-08-25

Two screens of film about - and sometimes shot by - Claes Oldenburg, detailing his inspiration, his

Chance, History, Art...
0

Chance, History, Art...

1980-08-25

Anne Bean, John McKeon, Stuart Brisley, Rita Donagh, Jamie Reid and Jimmy Boyle are interviewed abou

The Russian Cracker
0

The Russian Cracker

1999-08-12

Russia is grappling with a critical issue: they have become the country with the most at large seria

D'où viennent les faux cheveux
0

D'où viennent les faux cheveux

1909-10-01

On a market day in Kernascleden, two Breton women exchange their hair for a few coins. The hair beco

Personal Documentary
0

Personal Documentary

2024-02-23

During the summer semester at a New York City arts school, boundaries begin to blur between an adjun

Cinéastes de notre temps : Erich von Stroheim
2.5

Cinéastes de notre temps : Erich von Stroheim

2012-10-14

Cinéastes de notre temps : Jean Vigo
3.6

Cinéastes de notre temps : Jean Vigo

2012-10-08

Filmmakers of Our Time: François Truffaut or the Critical Spirit
3

Filmmakers of Our Time: François Truffaut or the Critical Spirit

1965-12-02

50 años de... Canciones
2.5

50 años de... Canciones

2009-11-12

Geschichte einer Sandrose
0

Geschichte einer Sandrose

1961-01-01

A boy from the desert tries to sell a sand rose in the big city.

How It Was Done in Odesa... or Odessans of All Countries, Unite!
4

How It Was Done in Odesa... or Odessans of All Countries, Unite!

1991-01-10

A concert movie dedicated to the formation of the World Club of Odesa under the leadership of Mikhai

The Five Obstructions
3.5

The Five Obstructions

2003-11-07

In 1967, experimental filmmaker Jorgen Leth created a striking short film, The Perfect Human, starri

Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years
2.5

Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years

2003-11-15

Behind-the-scenes footage, rare screen tests and insightful interviews highlight this engrossing two

Zombies in the Sugar Cane Field: The Documentary
3.9

Zombies in the Sugar Cane Field: The Documentary

2019-11-08

Tucumán, Argentina, 1965. Three years before George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead was release