"A picture of reality reinforced by gimmick."
Dearest Dziga,
Your creative endeavor has satisfied me to the brink.
My cup runneth over.
Sincerely,
Lee Paris.
Dearest Lee,
Though I do not believe that was my absolute intention when making The Man With a Movie Camera, I am none the less pleased that you are experiencing such a reaction. I will pass your praise on to my brother Mikhail Kaufman who was the cameraman and my wife Elizaveta who did most of the editing. I am fascinated by the variety of interpretations of my musical instructions. I am not sure which soundtrack you were privy too.
Sincerely,
Dziga Vertov, Author-Supervisor of the Experiment
Given my love of photography, movies, film history and percussive music I feel I have just immersed myself in optical, intellectual and auditory heaven.
The manifesto of the film's creators states:
“A true documentary works as a wakeup therapy, helping people to shake off the nightmare of fiction film, opening your eyes to life as it is (a reference to their aversion to what they called Hollywood’s ‘factory of dreams’). The film presents an experiment in the cinematic communication of visible events-without the aid of intertitles-without the aid of a scenario- without the aid of theatre.”
While the music certainly worked for me I am very curious as to why its creators felt that music was a useful and acceptable aid.
Also, if there is anyone out there with a deeper knowledge of the historical context in which this film was made , could you share with me the nature of the social/political conventions they envisioned would come crashing down and be replaced by their own utopia.
P.S. I want to offer a warm welcome to everyone as we begin year number TWO of Films Off The Beaten Path!
P.P.S. I finally added a new photo slide show, scroll down to see it.
