Something very different for you today. So for one of my units at uni we're watching documentaries but we're looking at older ones that are very different to what you'd expect, or at least to what I normally expect when I watch a documentary. This review, or just my opinions of what I thought about the one we watched last week will sound different to my normal posts as it was originally written for some uni work, however I still hope it helps maybe.
The documentary Man with a Movie Camera by Dziga
Vertov is unlike anything I have seen before. At first I found it
hard to follow and difficult to understand but then I slowly started
to realise that it was in fact following the events of one day, but
for different people. As it is made from a montage of images put into
a sequence you can sometimes get lost within these images and it can
then again become slightly confusing but I was able to pick it up
again further along. Although it is silent, you can still form a
story of what is happening as these people go about their daily tasks
of waking up, getting dressed and going to work, it does not need a
script for you to be able to follow it even though I did get a bit
lost along the way.
As it was made in 1929 the images used reflect to us
what times were like for people in those days and it allows us to
understand what life would have been like for them whilst carrying
out such tasks that for them would have been more difficult than it
would be for us today. We are shown peoples live in the private eye
as well as those in public, and we see the cameraman, or rather the
'Man with a Movie Camera', travelling around with his camera setting
up the shots and filming people as they get on with their day. Even
though this documentary does not use any actors, when the people
being filmed see the camera viewers are able to see that they do
sometimes change how they act when they know they are being watched.
Despite there being some moments where I found it a
difficult documentary to follow, I did actually enjoy it as it was
different to what we are shown on television these days, and it
allows us to take a look at how life was back then without the scenes
being set up and acted. Everything we see is real, and although some
shots had to be arranged prior to the filming, for example when the
woman is getting dressed, they are still honest shots of what life
would have been like for them in 1929.
Catherall describes Man with a Movie camera as 'a film
that introduced revolutionary artistic form as well as revolutionary
methods of filmmaking through the medium of documentary cinema', it is so different to any documentary that is made now
and I don't think we will see something quite like it for a while, or
again. It stands out due to its differences and the fact that we are
able to see how the documentary is being made also makes it different
to to others that are out now.
As it was a silent film I do think there were times
when some sound could have helped and would have made things more fun
to watch and could have been used to add something to the story.
Watching Man with a Movie Camera has helped me realise that not all
documentaries are the same as I once thought.
That's all for now, and I might keep posting about the documentaries we watch each week just as its something different to add to this blog.
Until next time, thanks for reading :) x
No comments:
Post a Comment