Человек с киноаппаратом (1929)
No stats available
Directors
Cast
A collage of fleeting city scenes turns everyday urban life into a showcase of cinematic possibilities.
The story
A series of brief documentary fragments captures the rush of modern city life, from moving vehicles and crowds to industrial labor, cultural events, and medical facilities. Filmed over time in Odessa, Kyiv, and Moscow, the footage gathers ordinary scenes from a variety of angles. The film uses an array of techniques—including tilted compositions, reflections, stop motion, accelerated motion, and multiple images within a frame—to transform this material into an experimental portrait of urban activity. Rather than following a conventional plot, it offers a succession of images shaped through inventive editing.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film is made up of short documentary fragments, often just a few frames long, depicting the chaotic life of a modern city: the movement of vehicles and people, workers laboring at industrial plants, cultural events, and medical facilities. It presents a veritable encyclopedia of cinematographic and editing techniques: tilted angles, filming in reflection, stop-motion filming, accelerated motion, combining two or more images in a single frame, and so on. For a long time, Vertov and Kaufman filmed everything that caught their interest on the streets of Odessa, Kyiv, and Moscow, from a variety of angles. Using the footage they had shot, the director’s wife, E. Svilova, edited a film that is practically abstract in its lack of plot.
Genres
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…