FILM 2184: MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (1929)

TRIVIA: A revelation in its day, the film was noted for introducing all sorts of camera techniques to audiences. Some of these include double exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, backward footage, and stop motion animation.

Filmed over a period of three years.

Although seemingly set in one city, the film was actually shot in Moscow, Odessa, Kharkiv and Kiev (although part of the Soviet Union at the time, the latter three cities are in what is now Ukraine.

The British electronic/jazz outfit The Cinematic Orchestra created a soundtrack for this movie, released in 2003 as the "Man With a Movie Camera" album and played live at film festivals over the world.

Voted the eighth greatest film of all time in "Sight & Sound"'s 2012 critics poll.

Chosen by "Premiere" Magazine as one of the "100 Movies That Shook the World" in the October 1998 issue. The list ranked the most "daring movies ever made."

Included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

Although this film was well-received abroad, its style caused considerable controversy in the Soviet Union under Stalin's increasingly repressive rule. Even Vertov's colleague Sergei M. Eisenstein accused him of indulging in "unmotivated camera mischief". Vertov enjoyed a few more years of relative creative freedom before the government banished him to anonymously editing newsreels.

Included among the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Schneider.

I’m making my way through the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. See my blog post about my copy of the book here…

You can buy an updated version (which I will get after I’ve made my way through this edition) here…

I really hope you can come on this journey with me – if you do I’d love to know which films you’ve enjoyed the most!

Watch this here…