Post by klep on Apr 9, 2018 6:34:52 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/9: Man With A Movie Camera
1920s WEEK!
Man With A Movie Camera is one of the most playful and clever films I have ever seen. It was therefore surprising for me to learn in reading up on the film that its director Dziga Vertov was part of a movement dedicated to the elimination of narrative filmaking. It seems strange to me that a man capable of such brilliant and varied experimentation with form could be opposed to any kind of filmmaking.
Vertov uses every trick in the book to create a portrayal of humanity in a bustling urban environment, and the efforts of himself to document them. His film is full of dutch angles, tracking shots, jump cuts, various motion speeds, extreme closeups, stop-motion animation, and some of the most breathtaking composite images I've ever seen. My favorite such composite showed a mountainous Vertov setting up his tripod to film the city at his feet, making explicit the metaphor of his film.
But in addition to being audacious in form, the film is also audacious in subject. There is nowhere Vertov would not take his camera - deep into mines, between trolleys, under trains. Into bars, into bedrooms, right in peoples' faces, and following them as they titter at the camera. He even takes us into the editing room to get footage of his film being spliced together - with some of the shots we see being edited in not being shown until much later in the film. There's also a surprising amount of nudity - primarily at the beach but I was particularly astonished to see footage of a live birth.
Through all of his experimentation Vertov does create a sort of narrative, albeit one he would probably insist was "true" or "real" in a way a fictional film is not. He gives us a vision of life in a (then) modern city, from the pre-dawn quiet through the after work activities. He shows us asleep and awake, working and playing, being born and dying, wedding and divorcing, loving and laughing and mourning and crying and stressed and relaxed and on and on and on and on.
There's so much of life in this film that it's astounding its runtime is a mere 67 minutes. There are filmmakers who spend a lifetime trying to capture this much of humanity, but Vertov did it in the 20s in a film barely longer than an hour.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/16: Koyaanisqatsi
GREAT SCORES WEEK!
Unintentionally continuing with a theme, our next Movie of the Week also contends with the breadth of humanity, exploring the interrelationships between man, nature, and technology. Wordless, it relies entirely on Philip Glass' score. Koyaanisqatsi is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 4/5: Ready Player One
Steven Spielberg's efforts to turn Ernest Cline's somewhat nauseating novel into a decent film close out last week's podcast. Join us Wednesday for a discussion of what worked and what opportunities Spielberg missed. Ready Player One is still in theaters.
1920s WEEK!
Man With A Movie Camera is one of the most playful and clever films I have ever seen. It was therefore surprising for me to learn in reading up on the film that its director Dziga Vertov was part of a movement dedicated to the elimination of narrative filmaking. It seems strange to me that a man capable of such brilliant and varied experimentation with form could be opposed to any kind of filmmaking.
Vertov uses every trick in the book to create a portrayal of humanity in a bustling urban environment, and the efforts of himself to document them. His film is full of dutch angles, tracking shots, jump cuts, various motion speeds, extreme closeups, stop-motion animation, and some of the most breathtaking composite images I've ever seen. My favorite such composite showed a mountainous Vertov setting up his tripod to film the city at his feet, making explicit the metaphor of his film.
But in addition to being audacious in form, the film is also audacious in subject. There is nowhere Vertov would not take his camera - deep into mines, between trolleys, under trains. Into bars, into bedrooms, right in peoples' faces, and following them as they titter at the camera. He even takes us into the editing room to get footage of his film being spliced together - with some of the shots we see being edited in not being shown until much later in the film. There's also a surprising amount of nudity - primarily at the beach but I was particularly astonished to see footage of a live birth.
Through all of his experimentation Vertov does create a sort of narrative, albeit one he would probably insist was "true" or "real" in a way a fictional film is not. He gives us a vision of life in a (then) modern city, from the pre-dawn quiet through the after work activities. He shows us asleep and awake, working and playing, being born and dying, wedding and divorcing, loving and laughing and mourning and crying and stressed and relaxed and on and on and on and on.
There's so much of life in this film that it's astounding its runtime is a mere 67 minutes. There are filmmakers who spend a lifetime trying to capture this much of humanity, but Vertov did it in the 20s in a film barely longer than an hour.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/16: Koyaanisqatsi
GREAT SCORES WEEK!
Unintentionally continuing with a theme, our next Movie of the Week also contends with the breadth of humanity, exploring the interrelationships between man, nature, and technology. Wordless, it relies entirely on Philip Glass' score. Koyaanisqatsi is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 4/5: Ready Player One
Steven Spielberg's efforts to turn Ernest Cline's somewhat nauseating novel into a decent film close out last week's podcast. Join us Wednesday for a discussion of what worked and what opportunities Spielberg missed. Ready Player One is still in theaters.