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Comparative Analysis Of Dziga Vertov's Man

2150 Words9 Pages

Elizaveta Samodurova
Professor Joseph Dorman
History of Documentary
November 25 2014

Comparative Analysis of Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera and Walter Ruttman’s Berlin: Symphony of a City

The heavily planned and edited footage of what we call reality television today has a very humble predecessor which truly attempted to capture the daily life of humans, substituting a rehearsed plot line for the purity and chaos which is inherent to human life. City symphonies placed themselves within the world of cinema as an attempt to recreate the essence of city life through kaleidoscopal glimpses of the daily life of its inhabitants, resembling a musical symphony through its structure as a visual composition of so many different elements. …show more content…

The abrupt cutting of shots slows down, and the camera lingers on wheels slowing down and working men cleaning up for their lunch break. There is a blissful atmosphere as workers drink beer and eat, and animals lie down to rest. The end of work brings about the beginning of leisure, and Ruttman basks in this time by prolonging the sequence, and adjusting the camerawork to give the viewer longer shots to appreciate the break. This leisurely pace comes to an abrupt halt as a man clinks his spoon against his cup to request his cheque, reviving the primary motivation behind capitalism: …show more content…

While Ruttman’s film is an attempt to convey the
Vertov’s film is idealistic cinema as an instrument of truth
Scenes of the documentary are intercut with scenes of the actual production.
Capitalism breathes life into industrialization, and machines
The city is awake before the people are.

lions feeding

beauty salon Vertov’s passion lay in the ability of the lens of a camera to combine an infinite amount of perspectives

Vertov’s cinematic style portrays cinema as a socialistic ideal of an art form, as he shows
Vertov used filmmaking as a tool in the construction of his socialist ideal of the world.

Ruttman, in contrast with Vertov’s political motivations, was more motivated by the aesthetic value of filmmaking in capturing the spirit of a city, stating that “since [he] began in the cinema, [he] had the idea of making something out of life, of creating a symphonic film out of the millions of energies that comprise the life of a big city”¹.
While Ruttman’s enamorement focused solely on

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