something wonderful for your netflix queue

dziga vertov's "man with a movie camera" left me breathless. his silent avant-garde documentary of a day in moscow from dawn to dusk in 1929 made me only wish for one thing, and that was a larger television. nevertheless, i was swept away by this visionary celebration of motion and simultanaeity. it is imperative that everyone see it. (especially andrea).


in his film, vertov places a lot of emphasis on the grace and fluidity of machines, portraying them as fitting seamlessly in with human life. all the workers in the factories he films seem to revel in the repetition of their jobs, as if they are temporarily tuned in to the underlying and hypnotizing rhythm of the film, the teeming pulse of life when it's running full steam. the whole thing is just visually exhilarating, and the soundtrack only enhances it. (be sure you watch the kino version, for there are others out there with different soundtracks, as the original film is completely silent, so when it was played in theatres it could be accompanied by live music.



i have a link right here for you to watch the first ten or so minutes. the guy who added it to youtube calls vertov "a koyaaniskatsi of the silent era," but i'd say it was the other way around.