From the time the film
industry was created there have been propaganda films. They are still used
today to bolster nations and make them look good and decent to their people. Some
are actual films like most of the films made during World War II. They had a
story about a loved one going off to War or someone coming home from the War. And
some propaganda films are documentaries. One of the most famous propaganda documentary
films is Dziga Vertov’s Man With a Movie
Camera.
Man With a Movie
Camera is a documentary of the people of three different Ukrainian cities
under Soviet rule. It is also a documentary about filmmaking. There are scenes
of city life and then all the sudden there is a scene where you are being shown
how parts of the film were edited.
Vertov begins the film showing a quiet town in the early
morning. Then all the sudden the town comes alive and the people of the town are
going about their daily business. He takes shots of stores and factories and
then shows the faces of the people who work in them. Towards the end of the
documentary he shows men and women enjoying leisure activities and sports.
There is no set story to Man With a Movie Camera. It is just a series of scenes of life and
filmmaking. I think it is a genius look into life in 1929. No actors were
involved in this film/documentary. The jump cuts and editing are exciting which
makes it more intriguing and fascinating to watch. Without the cuts and the
editing a film/documentary of this kind without them would have been boring. Once
I got a sense for how the film was playing out it reminded of later surrealist
films I have seen. It is abstract, poetic, and fanciful like surrealist films
yet at the same time it strikes a chord with real life and human emotions. Man With a Movie Camera is a film I recommend
for film and history buffs to watch.
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