Issue No. 24 | Wanderlust
18 March 2010 4:28am PST
18 March 2010 4:28am PST
The Man With the Movie Camera
The Man With The Movie Camera (w/ live score by Thavius Beck)
The Silent Movie Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
1/21/09
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The Man with The Movie Camera is the kind of movie that turns cinephiles into cinemaniacs. A kaleidoscope of visual possibilities, a feast of energy and ideas, Dziga Vertov’s everything-including-the-kitchen-sink picture-poem teems with life, craft and innovation. It’s an ode to the city, to the machinery of modern life, to the rhythms of everyday people and to the visual splendor of movement, but most of all it’s a love letter to the camera itself. Vertov may have pioneered the use of the “hidden camera”, capturing moments of uncommon naturalism, but this restless film also puts the material reality of filmmaking front and center, even letting the camera do a charming stop-motion dance number. Toying with the artificial omnipotence of filmmaking, Vertov takes the documentary places few have been able to follow. This film wasn’t made for DVD–like a wild horse, The Man with The Movie Camera needs to run through the projector gate! The film’s live score will be performed by multi-instrumentalist/producer Thavius Beck, who, in addition to solo albums and work under the moniker Adlib, has collaborated with Nas, Nine Inch Nails and Saul Williams.
Dir. Dziga Vertov, 1929, 16mm, 80 min.
Tickets are $14, purchase them HERE
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View an excerpt from The Man With the Movie Camera
Comments:
Yet another reason why sometimes I really miss LA. Sounds amazing.
The Cinematic Orchestra (signed to Ninja Tune) did their own soundtrack to this movie a few years back. I recently came across the DVD and realized I’d never seen it…unfortunately it will lack the clack-clack of the projector gates; sometimes technology can’t replicate an atmosphere. On the big screen with a live score this is bound to be spectacular.