Movie Natters: April 17, 2007 Archive

Vertov - a "Man with a Movie Camera"

Posted at 2:09 PM on April 17, 2007 by Euan Kerr

Dziga Vertov had some big plans in his day. Not only did he set out in the 1920's to create a new language of cinema as he described it, he and his followers known as the Kinoks declared they wanted to abolish all non-documentary film making.

Thankfully they failed in this latter aim, but watching Vertov's classic "Man with a Movie Camera," captures the excitement of its creator as he went about changing cinema.

"Man with a Movie Camera," made in 1929, captures ordinary Russians going about their daily lives: sleeping, eating, working, playing, even giving birth and dying. It's a breathtaking montage delivered at breakneck speed.

Vertov said he wanted to document reality, but that doesn't stop him from using the cinematic tricks available to him including split images, animation and even editing film in backwards so a pile of chess pieces miraculously set themselves in place.

The film is just over an hour long, and while Vertov may not have accomplished his goal of inventing a new cinematic language either, he certainly created a remarkable snapshot of a period in Russian history. It's well worth seeking out.

I recently watched the version with the soundtrack developed in the 1990's based on Vertov's notes and performed by the Alloy Orchestra. It's a percussive piece that includes various sound effects. It would be intriguing to watch one of the other versions available on DVD to see how that might change the film.

"Eragon" rides again

Posted at 5:03 PM on April 17, 2007 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)

It's strange what people get animated about.

Of all the things that I've written about on this blog I could have seen people getting bent out of shape as they did about "300."

But Zinedine Zidane?

And how about "Eragon?"

The movie came out three months ago and not a lot of people got that excited about it. However the DVD is out now and there is a steady stream of interest.

The film hasn't got any better of course, but it seems to be building fans.

Arya (Sienna Guillory) preparing for battle in "Eragon." (Image courtesy 20th Century Fox, David Appleby photographer.)

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