Man With the Movie Camera

Description

Described by director Dziga Vertov as an experiment in the language of pure cinema, "The Man With the Movie Camera" is perhaps the most dazzling and sophisticated, not only of Soviet, but of world silent cinema. Music by the Alloy Orchestra.

Customer Reviews:

Not a film as much as a language........2007-02-28

The Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)

The opening moments of the newly-restored edition of Dziga Vertov's most famous film, The Man with a Movie Camera, explain that the silent film contains no cards because Vertov was less interested in making a traditional movie than in creating a visual language. Thus, those who go into this looking for a traditional movie aren't going to get much out of it; there's no plot, no characters, no story, not much of anything, really. The idea behind Vertov's vision was to (a) document daily life in contemporary Russia, and (b) to use nothing but images to convey the ambient emotions. And in that respect, the film is a smashing success; if you allow it to simply wash over you, it's a wonderful piece of work.

Perhaps even more interesting than Vertov's attempt to create a visual language was the movie's sense of what is popularly called "meta" today; the documentary itself is framed with images of a movie theater where people are attending a screening of, you guessed it, The Man with a Movie Camera. If nothing else, these scenes alone-- unheard of at the time-- would cement Vertov's place as one of film's pioneers.

Its importance in the greater scheme of cinema would be hard to overstate; Vertov's little self-aware documentary was a direct influence on hundreds, if not thousands, of movies that followed (most importantly Triumph des Willens, which changed not only the face of filmmaking, but the face of the entire marketing industry as well). Eighty years later, The Man with a Movie Camera has as much power to impress as it did when it was released-- as long as you're willing to take it on its own terms. ****

Pure Cinema.......2006-09-11

THE MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA is a film you're either going to love or hate, and it's unlikely you'll find a comfortable mid-ground. It's silent, Russian made, experimental. It opens with a manifesto rejecting inter-title cards, and an affinity to or reliance on theater and literature. It won't reject any of the tricks of cinema, though - including stop-action animation, slow motion, and at times dizzying, machine fire montages. It uses documentary footage to tell its story.

Although it doesn't tell a traditional story the movie does have a structure. It opens in an empty movie hall, records a projectionist queuing up reel one. Cuts to the hall, stop-action animates chairs unfolding. Cuts to the orchestra - conductor's baton is raised, the orchestra is readied and suspended. Enter audience. Love it or hate it, this movie never forgets it's a movie. I loved it. And I loved when the projector started and the real movie started.

And that journey - the one the movie takes - is well described by the second American title, `Living Russia.' We seem to spend most of the movie following a man with an old, hand-cranked, tripod supported movie camera as he travels through some Russian city or other. We, over his shoulder, seem to go everywhere and observe everything - a young woman sleeping in bed, people sleeping on park benches, store-front mannequins at rest. Eventually the woman and bench sleepers awake, the mannequins are animated, and we travel in time through the work and recreational life of a city. Then it's to the foundry, the cigarette packing plant, the beach, the volleyball court....

Some people will find this art house movie terribly self-absorbed and its lack of a conventional narrative frustrating. If you only like movies that throw a good story at you probably won't care much for this film. If you're not sure give this one a try - beneath it's lack of `story' is a fascinating story written on celluloid, vibrant, wry, and witty.

These other guy's are only saying this is good to look cool & get chicks..........2006-07-01

seriously, I can see how the camera work might of blown people away back when this was made (especially the scene in the factory where it keeps flicking like a strob to all the loud factory noise.) but today it just wont excite. Like the first light bulb ever...WHOA HOLY [...] THATS INCREDIBLE! But how often do you catch yourself saying that when you enter your bedroom everyday? Important film but very dated...only watch it to look cool & get chicks...trust me it'll work bruv!

Propaganda, but very well done........2006-05-13

Dziga Vertov's film is an amazing and quite daring foray into the realm of experimental cinema (I say this with some reservations -- see below). The viewer is quite literally transported to the Soviet Union of the past. We witness love and loss, happiness and sadness, life and death. We witness the beginning of a day and the end of a day, a wedding and a divorce, a birth and a funeral. All the scenes are real -- the birth is a real birth, the funeral a real funeral, the divorce a real divorce. Nationalistic and cultural boundaries begin to fade since the events depicted say more about human nature than they do about a particular people.
The music is quite inventive and amazing, especially when one considers that only three young men are performing it. The editing is some of the most astonishing ever to come out of Soviet silent cinema.
That said, there is a somewhat irritating political message that comes forth -- that industrialization will solve the problems of humanity, that those who follow the Party line are the ones depicted as being sober and responsible. So many people are shocked by Nazi propaganda films such as "Triumph of the Will," -- I find it sad that more people are not troubled by Soviet era films which tout the beauty of Marxist-Leninism while ignoring the carnage and sometimes outright genocide (i.e. the Ukranians)carried out by the Soviets for over seventy years. The fact of the matter is that Soviet Marxist-Leninism slaughtered millions of people and enslaved millions of others. This is a troubling hunk of history that is difficult to ignore when watching this otherwise masterful work of filmmaking.

NO story. Good cinematography. Okay music........2006-02-20

I watched this movie after hearing how highly rated it was. VERY disappointing. Musical score over shots around Russia, or Europe. I couldn't tell since there was no story, no words (even subtitles). Just a guy with a movie camera recording everyday people in their daily lives.

The music was NOT good, certainly not great. Even movies like The Third Man (1949) had amazing music. Not here.

So you have video and music, with no plot. No words, even silent era subtitles like Chaplin-NOTHING. If the music and video can't keep you interested... Skip this.

There are great films from this era. This is not one of them.

Walt D in LV

Average customer rating:

Bread and Roses
One-dimensional fluff.
Bread And Roses--a film ever more relevant for our times!
Be wise, Unionize!
Brody's Appeal Perks Up This NORMA RAE for Hispanic Janitors

Bread and Roses
Starring: Pilar Padilla , Adrien Brody , Elpidia Carrillo , Jack McGee , and Monica Rivas
Director: Ken Loach
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005OSLC
Release Date: 2001-11-27

Customer Reviews:

Bread and Roses.......2007-07-18

The conflict between principle and practical reality is deftly explored by British director Loach in this affecting drama set in present-day Southern California, and features earthy performances by Brody and formidable newcomer Padilla. An intense, authentic depiction of our most vulnerable workers' struggle for a decent life, the film underscores the importance of taking a stand, however daunting. Shedding light on the desperate lives of people largely ignored in contemporary times, "Roses" is a tense, moving story about those still seeking--and being denied--the American Dream.

One-dimensional fluff........2007-06-26

Bread and Roses (Ken Loach, 2001)

I'm honestly not sure how to approach this movie. I am a huge fan of the movie that comes directly before it in Loach's corpus, namely My Name is Joe, which made me a Peter Mullan fan for life. Bread and Roses, on the other hand, was--to put it mildly--a trial to get through, and much of what I've read makes me place the majority of the blame on Loach's shoulders; this could have been a fairly amusing comedy-drama with a compelling storyline, but instead comes off as a piece of propagandist trash aimed, if anything, at preaching to the choir; it's certainly not going to move anyone from the other side, even if they can see the validity in the arguments spouted here. The Motorcycle Diaries this is not.

The story concerns Maya (Pilar Padilla), a new, and illegal, immigrant to America, who lands a job with the Angel Cleaning Company, for which her sister works. Their boss, Perez (George Lopez), is, to put it mildly, a sexist, racist brute who likes nothing better than making his employees terrified of him. During her first day on the job, Maya encounters a fleeing Sam (The Pianist's Adrien Brody), being chased by her boss, his boss, and a security guard through the building; she, fond of neither Perez nor the security guard (with whom she had an altercation before getting the job), smuggles him to safety. The two form a tentative friendship, and she learns he's an activist who's fighting Angel, a non-union janitorial service little better than a sweatshop that happens to contract out. The rest of the movie deals with Maya and Sam's clashes with Angel.

There are a wealth of supporting characters who had the possibility to be interesting, but their stories are, for the most part, abandoned in Loach's quest to drive his message home. There are two avenues that are explored--Rosa's husband, Bert (Jack McGee), off work on disability because of his diabetes, and Juan (Eloy Mendez), who works as a janitor in order to save money for his law school tuition--but the pieces we see of their stories are there, as everything else, to drive the plot. When even your three-dimensional characters come off as two-dimensional, there's a problem. The others don't even merit the term "cardboard cutout." Which is a shame, as there's some talent within the ranks here, Lopez especially. The movie, however, is unconcerned.

Bread and Roses is the thinnest of veneers over boring political screed; even if you're of the same mindset as the film's writer and director, you'll have to overlook the film's glaring lack of characterization, threadbare plot, oddly cheap-looking film stock (though I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and assume a bad DVD transfer), episodic formulation, and glacial pace in order to get anything out of it. (half)

Bread And Roses--a film ever more relevant for our times!.......2007-02-11

Bread and Roses exposes the everyday life of poor Latin-Americans and their friends and family who are not living legally in this country. Many reviewers correctly point out that this movie highlights the brutal mistreatment of these human beings as if they were pieces of garbage or trash. The film also explores the high price of surviving in America for both legal and illegal immigrants. Bread And Roses accomplishes all this with a sensitivity that I rarely see in a motion picture; and it should be mandatory viewing for college and high school students so that they can better understand the complex issues regarding immigration that our country now faces.

Bread and Roses starts out with a fast paced action scene in which Maya, played so ably by Pilar Padilla, and other Mexicans are running across the US-Mexican border to get a better life for themselves. They want to be with their family members who have already come to America; and they also want jobs so that they can send money back to their starving families in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Maya, a rather street smart young lady, manages to escape the Mexican scoundrels who help her purely because they expect intimate favors from her. Maya takes a cab to her sister Rosa's house to live with her. Soon Rosa gets Maya a job in a cleaning company. Unfortunately, however, the cleaning company, supervised by a Hispanic himself, treats its employees with brutal intimidation and constant degradation.

The action speeds up even more when Maya and the other workers are encouraged to unionize by a labor activist Sam Shapiro, who is played by Adrien Brody. Initially the janitors hesitate to let Sam Shapiro lead them because they fear unemployment or deportation. With time, however, the janitors begin to realize they have the right as human beings to a living wage and at least a half-way decent lifestyle. Although Maya joins the people who want to unionize, she also does something else that is definitely not so honorable and the film gives us a bittersweet ending as a consequence.

The cinematography shines strong in the initial moments of this film when the people are running at breakneck speed to cross the border. I liked the views of Los Angeles; and the camera frames its subjects nicely. The scenes in which the camera pans upward toward the sky are breathtaking as well. The color is crisp and clear; and so is the sound.

The choreography displays much forethought. There are numerous scenes in which many actors on the set all have to do their own acting while surrounded by other performing actors; and they all manage to do this convincingly with great direction. The scenes in which the workers march are equally well done; and the party where Rosa's husband falls ill is very well choreographed.

The Latin-American characters speak in a mixture of English and Spanish; and this enhances the believability of this story. In fact, speaking in a mixture of Spanish and English is commonplace amongst lesser educated Hispanic people like the ones portrayed by the actors in this picture. They have not been to school long enough to learn each language fluently so they speak and understand parts of both languages. This reflects meticulous attention to detail--I love it!

I highly recommend this film for those of us who want to increase their understanding of what impoverished Hispanic persons have to endure in order to stay in this country both legally and illegally. Oftentimes they must do things they would ordinarily never do just to be able to send money back home so that the children can eat. What Rosa, Maya's sister, had to do to send money back home highlights the extremes people sometimes have to go to in order to keep their families well fed.

In sum, Bread and Roses reflects a sensitivity more people need to have toward the issues surrounding the controversial topic of Hispanic people flowing into America. Even if you don't agree with everything I wrote here; I hope that you will see this film to try to see where the other side "is coming from." Bread And Roses deserved much more credit than it ever received but it remains a brilliant film nonetheless.

See it!

Be wise, Unionize!.......2005-08-09

A very rare movie, in any nation. I've never seen one like this before. At the local video store, few customers rent it out, because it doesn't look like your typical fun puff-piece or thriller/chiller. Political movies usually do poorly. The actors are not incredibly sexy, don't have witty remarks, and the atmosphere isn't breathtakingly beautiful. As a matter of fact, the opposite is largely true. Even I, a political junkie to some extent, was reluctant to rent it out. One day, however, feeling more than usually virtuous, I decided to give this movie a try. The movie covers the labor struggle of illegal immigrant janitors in Los Angeles being paid $5.45 an hour with no benefits, no vacation, no lunch break, no rights and subject to sexual harassment and arbitrary abuse and firing. The struggle is marked by a romance between the union activist and a worker, and the bitter betrayal of one sister against another. Cheap labor from abroad is being used today in the United States and other developed countries to diminish and eliminate the gains made by unions in the 19th century. The answer, of course, is for unions to proliferate among the immigrants and among people in all nations, and for workers to unite world-wide regardless of nationality, race or religion. That is a monumental task to say the least; but consider the alternatives. The union organization depicted in the movie is called "Justice for Janitors," and their web site offers information about this great film at (...) The movie is a map for workers showing how to fight against exploitation by business. Be wise, Unionize!

Brody's Appeal Perks Up This NORMA RAE for Hispanic Janitors.......2004-11-19

Ken Loach's kitchen-sink drama about the hardships of illegal aliens under the thumb of exploitative employers is driven by excellent performances, particularly the three leads. Pilar Padilla and Elpidia Carillo give bravura portrayals of long-suffering Mexican sisters in L.A.; Maya (Padilla) is feisty and cunning, while her self-sacrificing older sister Rosa (Carillo) has grown resigned to her own and her family's lot in life. As Sam Shapiro, a labor activist who helps Maya and her fellow Hispanic janitors in a high-rise office building to form a union, Adrien Brody's blend of earnestness and mischief really livens up this well-meaning, often moving, occasionally didactic film. Brody's beard and bedhead make him look especially cuddly; no wonder the engaging Padilla eventually drags him into a closet for some hot and heavy nookie! :-) (My husband also remarked that all that hair made Brody's prominent proboscis look, well, less prominent -- not that Brody's noble nose ever bothered me, thank you very much! :-).

Average customer rating:

Not a film as much as a language.
Pure Cinema
These other guy's are only saying this is good to look cool & get chicks...
Propaganda, but very well done.
NO story. Good cinematography. Okay music.

Man with a Movie Camera
Director: Dziga Vertov
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008WJC0
Release Date: 2003-05-13

Customer Reviews:

Not a film as much as a language........2007-02-28

Pure Cinema.......2006-09-11

These other guy's are only saying this is good to look cool & get chicks..........2006-07-01

Propaganda, but very well done........2006-05-13

NO story. Good cinematography. Okay music........2006-02-20

Average customer rating:

A bad film, even 4 Blondie fans...
Union City
worst transfer of film to DVD ever
Where are the Extras?
CORRECTION: THIS REVIEW WRITTEN BY MARTIN LEHMANN

Union City
Starring: Cynthia Crisp , Deborah Harry , Terina Lewis , Dennis Lipscomb , and Sally MacLeod
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305154910
Release Date: 1998-11-24

Description

A modern film noir tale of murder and paranoia set amid the grit of a 1950s industrial city based on the novel by Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window).

Customer Reviews:

A bad film, even 4 Blondie fans..........2006-01-07

... best thing it gave rise to was "union City Blue", one of their best singles. Debbie singsa about the pain of getting up to go and shoot this crap on set.

It's total garbage as an "existentialist thriller" or anything of merit. Just bad pseudo-intellectual rubbish, best-forgetten about by Debbbie Harry or anyone else thinking that this is a tribute to Truffaut... GROW UP!!!

Patrick

Union City.......2004-07-18

Harlan (Dennis Lipscomb) is obsessed with discovering who's stealing his milk every morning, ignoring his frustrated young wife (Deborah Harry) in the process. Mayhem ensues.
UNION CITY is a hyper-stylized neo-noir that never takes off. The sets are flooded in loud reds, or blues, or greens. The direction is loose and the acting is almost uniformly mediocre. It's apparent director Marcus Reichert was aiming at atmosphere and ambience, but in my case he missed by a country mile. The only spark of recognition generated by this one was when Harlan says of a crazy neighbor lady: "Don't tell me you can understand what she's talking about." Nope, can't say that I can understand. Can't say that I much care, either.

worst transfer of film to DVD ever.......2004-07-13

This would be a great DVD if only the transfer were at least mediocre. It is in fact possibly the worst transfer of film to DVD I've ever seen. I remember seeing this film at the Filmex film festival many years ago, and recalling the cinematography by Ed Lachman to be way too cool. None of that is apparent by watching this release by Fox Lorber. Please, someone release a better version!

Where are the Extras?.......2002-10-15

Content-wise, this is for Debbie Harry fans only. Everitt Magill from Twin Peaks is in it too, and Pat Benetar has a small cameo near the end. Blondie's Chris Stein wrote the orchestral soundtrack. The movie is so-so. I was hoping for some good DVD extras like deleted scenes and a more extensive still photo gallery. They aint there (and there were plenty of deleted scenes, as referenced by the still gallery!) Too bad. No subtitles either. Lazy much?

CORRECTION: THIS REVIEW WRITTEN BY MARTIN LEHMANN.......2002-07-22

...Union City is the ultimate French existentialist thriller - you hang on every word like a meathook - but made in New Jersey in 1979. Firstly, you have got to get off on the images, which are like rotting fruit, and, secondly, you have got to wonder at the conviction of these actors, especially Deborah Harry, who all give the most extraordinary dead-pan performances....

60 Minutes - Dumped on Skid Row (May 20, 2007)

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60 Minutes - Dumped on Skid Row (May 20, 2007)
Starring: Anderson Cooper
Manufacturer: CBS
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Amazon.com

Airdate: 05/17/07 For years, homeless people in Los Angeles have claimed that hospitals where they've sought treatment have literally dumped them on Skid Row, often before they've recovered. To prove it, some homeless shelters set up surveillance cameras, which is how they learned of one woman left at the side of the road by a hospital, wearing only a hospital gown. The city of Los Angeles is now investigating 50 cases of alleged "hospital dumping." Anderson Cooper reports.

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