Man With A Movie Camera

A man named Vertov, in 1929, uses the medium of film in ways not used before, but to be aped constantly over the next century. He not only uses manipulations and techniques that startle at the time, but uses them in such a way as to create an enduring, non-narrative, masterpiece.
How far through a film does one realise that one is watching one of the greatest pieces of cinematic art one has ever seen? It is perhaps when Vertov really cranks up the use of montage, the wonderful, sometimes head spinningly fast, juxtapositions of shots. Vertov is enough to convince even the most straight-edged realist of the great, special opportunities cinema offers in the field of formalism. The various techniques do indeed create something far beyond what perhaps the single image viewed quickly could convey. It is a matter of economy, the montage showing more with less.
This is a difficult film to use words about, as it is so articulate visually. We have mentioned the sensational use of montage, which does not so much follow a narrative line as go on visual riffs, like some jazz/classical mash up of image. The split screen and fade ins are on paper now cliches, but Vertov uses them in such a way as to seem exciting, audacious. Indeed, so much of this film is just that, audacious. The tracking shots of horses, the train tracks the train tracks. One gasps.
The images themselves are too spectacular, emphasised always by the way they are used. Fascinating as is 1929 revolutionary Russia, with its otherwordly streets and humming greys, the frame speed and even the freeze frames give it a poetry near impossible to capture otherwise.
A word also on the music; we heard Nyman's soundtrack, and though admittedly repititive it is also hugely powerful, stirring, a work of art in itself, though not intrusive on the image. The strings of power, balance and constancy complement the grandeur of the factories and the montage of machinery particularly well.
All we can really say about this film is that it must be seen, as many times as possible. It is always a little silly to say 'the greatest', but we are scratching around to find a documentary (or indeed any piece) that can use film as this does. It is a masterwork.