Man with a Movie Camera (1929).

An interesting montage film directed by Soviet director, Dzinga Vertov.

In a world of YouTube and fly on the wall documentaries, such early works as this are interesting to watch. It’s a slip of a film, at 68 minutes. Vertov exposes us to the day-to-day urban life of citizens in the Soviet cities of Kiev, Kharkov, Moscow and Odessa.

The emphasis is that the film camera can go anywhere – including inside a woman’s bedroom as she goes about her morning ablutions! Throughout the film there is an emphasis on the male gaze, it seems. But with its experimental nature, what can you expect? The birth scene made everyone in my film class squirm.

While it is certainly a ‘seminal’ film, it is not ‘the greatest’ film. Defining a ‘great’ film is tricky because you surely can’t be led entirely by ruling from film critics and academics. Surely it is defined by personal taste? A second viewing may be required!

MY RATING: *** / *****