Man with a Movie Camera

This seminal documentary by the progressive filmmaker Dziga Vertov dramatizes the filmmaker's role in society. Vertov presents a kaleidoscopic image of city life in the Soviet Union of the 1920s. By performing unthinkable feats, Vertov shoots the daily experiences of the town population. He rides along with cars and trains, lies on roads and railways and climbs towers and bridges. Meanwhile, the camera is running and its glass eye is recording all events. At the same time, Vertov shows the process of making a film. We get a very detailed explanation of how the cameraman does his job. Ceaselessly, Vertov mixes the event in front of the lens with the process of recording it. The camera shoots a passerby who reacts to the camera, and we see the passerby looking at his own reflection in the lens. Vertov goes even further by bringing the action to a stop. Then, the still images appear to be part of a filmstrip in the hands of the editor, who is inserting it into the right place in the film. Vertov goes on playing cinematic tricks to surprise his audience, and at the end of the film he even makes the camera bow to receive a well-deserved applause.