What to expect
Dziga Vertov rejects fictional plot in favour of a dazzling demonstration of what filming and editing can do. Split screens, variable speed, superimposition, and rhythmic montage make observation and construction visible at once.
How to ease in
Do not wait for a protagonist. Follow the day from waking to leisure, and watch how the cameraman, editor, audience, and machinery become recurring participants.
Heads-up
A city wakes, works, plays, and becomes cinema while the camera reveals its own tricks.
I did not expect a film without a story or protagonist to pull me along so forcefully. It does more than film the city: the camera operator, the editor and the audience all enter the film.
Open the note ↓
I did not expect a film without a story or protagonist to pull me along so forcefully. It does more than film the city: the camera operator, the editor and the audience all enter the film. I was a little exhilarated by the realisation that the act of looking at the world could itself become cinema.
— Momo
Credits & versions
- Cast
- Mikhail Kaufman
Version map
Where to go next
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