Chelovek s kino-apparatom (1929)

Director:

Dziga Vertov

Writer:

Dziga Vertov (writer)

Release Date:

12 May 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Urban Life | Double Exposure Effects | Track And Field | Childbirth | Crayfish

Cast

Mikhail Kaufman

...

The cameraman

Also Known As:

Человек с Киноаппаратом (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Living Russia, or The Man with a Camera (USA)
Man with a Movie Camera (International: English title)
The Man with a Movie Camera
The Man with the Movie Camera

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Australia:G | Netherlands:AL | Finland:S (1965)

Filming Locations:

Kiev, Ukraine

Company:

VUFKU

Trivia:

In 1996 Norwegian composer Geir Jenssen ("aka Biosphere") was commissioned by the Tromsø International Film Festival to write a new soundtrack for the movie, using the director's written instructions for the original accompanying piano player. Jenssen wrote half of the soundtrack, turning the other half to Per Martinsen (aka Mental Overdrive). It was used for the Norwegian version, "Mannen med filmkameraet", at the 1996 TIFF. The scored movie was not available after the festival. Soundtrack released in 2001 on CD.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in For Want of All Else (2006)

One of the greatest documentary films

Dziga Vertov's "Cheloveks Kino Apparatom" is one of the greatest documentaries to come out from Russia or from anywhere, anytime. It is a silent experiment in cinematography and editing or as Vertov put it - a film without a script, without any inter titles etc. His wife, Yelizaveta Svilova edited the film and his brother Mikhail Kaufman photographed it. Kaufman is actually the "man with the movie camera" in it.

When Kaufman saw the edited film he wasn't happy at all. Two brothers had a fight and never worked together again. Kaufman didn't agree with Vertov's style and his statement against cinema that was too dependent on literature and theater. Vertov's aim was to create a different language and he certainly succeeded. "Cheloveks Kino Apparatom" is a delightful work and it is too incredible for 1929 when it was made. I saw it with many different soundtracks and one of the most interesting ones is by Alloy Orchestra. By the way, Vertov's other brother Boris Kaufman won an Oscar for On the Waterfront. Some other documentaries I loved were Nanook by Flaherty, controversial Olympia by Riefenstahl, Last Spring on Sergei Paradjanov, and Sorrow and Pity by Ophuls.