a truly international absolute language

I was a little skeptical of the opening credits of "Man With a Movie Camera." They claimed that this was an experimental work--right away I recognized that word as a component of what we have thus far defined as 'avant-garde.' I guess I felt that this aim shouldn't have to be expressed so bluntly. Something about that straightforward statement of purpose made me ready to question what it was that made this film a part of the group we've seen so far.

After experiencing those 68 minutes, I'm glad Vertov included those explanatory credits. I really felt that this goal of creating something universal with film was accomplished. It was interesting talking to my classmates about "Man With a Movie Camera" after the screening, because it was reminiscent of leaving a movie theatre after seeing a movie I had been excited about seeing, despite having no real concept of this film beforehand. We were all piping in with our favorite parts, comparing notes--sharing some basic understanding of what we had just experienced. This film had a happy ending, I thought, which made me feel entirely different than I did stepping out of the UL two Thursdays ago, for example. There was something romantic about this film, perhaps derived from its honesty--its dedication to real life in combination with the novelty and grace of its editing. O'Pray notes the "paradoxical nature" of "Man With a Movie Camera." It, like other Soviet films of the time, was intended for a mass audience and produced by a state trust, VUFKU. Although these facts seem to go against the individualism and distrust of the mainstream that we've been associating with avant-gardism, "Man With a Movie Camera" is, in my mind, still avant-garde. It may not have a strong sense of violence (although there are certainly some violent images) or distrust of authority, but I think what it has commonality that is more important--a desire to advance the practice of filmmaking to something more than an art (an absolute language!) as well as a fascination with the "magic," the origins of cinema.