Living Russia, or The Man with a Camera (1929)

important AND entertaining

Although widespread scholarly attribution of cinema historical 'importance' to a film doesn't always guarantee it won't be a snoozer for the less than academic film-goer, that's definitely not the case with this bubbly & boisterous portrait of early 20th-century Soviet life.

Much more than just a social sketch, the film is not only incredibly visually rich, but thick with layers of meaning & metaphor (which the commentary track will help to reveal. The commentary, by the way, is equally fascinating - but don't watch it until after seeing it with the musical accompaniment!)

Simultaneously very real and oddly fantastic, Magic Realism would be an apt descriptor were it not already taken. A captivating lesson in cinema (& Soviet) history, and a welcome antidote to the currently all too relevant Trotsky-ism (liberally paraphrased here from the commentary) that "vodka, church & cinema" are the opiate cocktail of the capitalist masses (read: Da Vinci Code). September 16, 2008

In my top three

This is a really fun film.

First off, it's fun to watch an experimental film documenting the Soviet Union in the late 1920s. Second, the grammar of the film is very peculiar. The opening shot turns the camera on the viewer. The ideas of editing, what film is, and the role of the audience are all being questioned. Third, the score is fantastic. This version has the best score, which not only holds up, but elevates.

Not a date movie, or a blockbuster, but a very enjoyable peculiar experimental documentary. Definitely worth an hour of your time. June 10, 2008

an artistic slice of life

The Man With The Movie Camera is an excellent piece of work by Dziga Vertov who directs this film with lots of artistic quality. The idea is to essentially provide viewers with a slice of life as it existed at the time in The Soviet Union. The Man With The Movie Camera uses fantastic camera and cinematography techniques to make this movie stand out as a very good one.

This slice of life movie runs a full 68 minutes without any intertitles, plot, or actors. The people we see in the film are real, everyday people of different classes and backgrounds. I know; the former Soviet Union was to be a classless society; but it's abundantly clear in this movie that some people were so poor they had to sleep in the streets while others clearly enjoyed life at the beach or very modern clothing for their outings and social gatherings. In addition, we see the effects of Communism in the various social halls and a passenger freighter all named after Lenin. The newspaper is a union run newspaper; and except for the wealthy most people do wear essentially the same style of clothing.

The film brilliantly starts with a movie theater filling up with moviegoers and the projectionist and orchestra pit begin the performance; thus there is a movie within a movie. Very impressive! The footage also includes quite a bit of time filming the director as he goes all over a city, towns and beaches trying and succeeding at capturing this precious slice of life.

We see happy people, sad and depressed people, storekeepers, mail carriers. As the film goes along the day begins and we see the people of a city rise from their beds to start what becomes an incredibly busy day; and this is documented very well in this film.

Overall, I highly recommend this film for those of us interested in looking at the past and people who like sociology will also appreciate this movie. The musical score for this silent movie is also excellent. The only extra feature is a commentary; but I think the film stands quite well on its own.

Enjoy!
May 7, 2008

Film Class

This film shows how imaginative and scientific Vertov was. Within the film, politics are present but more interestingly you can see the humor. This film is great to see after getting that passionate feeling about film making bc it can open the curious mind a jar more. March 25, 2008

Dull early experimental film

Some early films continue to shine because of their artistry. Others get devalued because technology has dated them. This is ond of the latter. I found this film collage of life in 1929 Russia to be dull. Editing which might have seemed revolutionary in 1929 now seems obvious. Pass on this one. November 27, 2007

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