L'Homme à la caméra

A revolutionary film, basically, it’s impossible to say whether it is "bad", "excellent" or "passable" because of its heavy experimental character. A picture book with no script and no story that doesn’t get boring is a big win, and what's more, it’s a particular piece of work that will make more than a few film enthusiast get an insatiable desire to grab a camera and head out into the social jungle in search of a perfect, concise and beautiful shot... To be honest, I was expecting a more significant foray into the practice of the Soviet montage school, which continues to be dominated by Comrade Eisenstein, but Man with a Movie Camera is undoubtedly a remarkable contribution to that unique cinematic era. (09/12/2015)

No explanatory subtitles, no story, in fact without much of what one would expect, and yet such an enthralling and engrossing affair. For an hour and seven minutes I stared at Man with a Movie Camera in mute amazement. By the way, I saw the version with the Alloy Orchestra score, which was really great, but I'm glad there are other soundtracks. All the more reason to keep coming back to this film (about the film).__P.S. In a number of scenes I seem to recognize the inspiration for Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi. Coincidence? Hardly. (13/05/2014)

One of the few films where you can see just how important the work of an editor is, in this case, a female editor. Rearranging it completely, the film would take on a new, different meaning. Additionally, interesting contrasts, such as between life and death, old and new, might not occur. The title of the film is perfect, Vertov and his brother-cameraman capture life and they succeed in doing so with complete splendor, with its speed and slow tempo, with its beauty and disgust, importance and uselessness. (15/07/2014)