”How on earth did they do that?!”

When watching the brilliant The Man with a Movie Camera it is more likely than not that you will be saying something along those lines many times during the ~70 minute running time. The film has no actual plot and consists of random scenes filmed without actors, script, sets or anything resembling a normal film and that is exactly why it is such a riveting watch. Essentially it's two men documenting everyday life…

I should begin this review by saying that I'm not a huge Muppets fan. I've seen the original movie and at least one of the other ones, but I saw them when I was so young that I don't have much memory of them. However, my dad played the soundtrack to The Muppet Movie a lot so I am very familiar with the songs that reappeared on this film.

My final verdict on this film is that it's lots of…

In short, The Man with a Movie Camera is mandatory for everyone plaining to be a filmmaker.

I have this film here for months but I was afraid of watching it. What if this film is completely boring and tiresome? What if I dislike it? I had this thought that I would not like it. For some reason today I've decided to finally watch it and how wrong was I. I couldn't get up from my chair for one single…

Unfortunately I failed to click with this film, which is not only considered a masterpiece but which is a favourite of several people on this site who have excellent taste.

I didn't used to expect much enjoyment from "avant-garde" or "experimental" films when I first approached them but increasingly often I find they contain ideas or characters or triggers for memories which give me a strong personal connection with them. I think that having done meditation also helps.

But I…

Opened up Woodstock to watch, four hours long, closed that bad boy and yelled next, Man with a movie Camera, 70 minutes long, I think I can manage that tonight. I have been excited to see this for so long now, an experimental avant-garde documentary that is regarded as a cornerstone of cinema by nearly everyone who has seen it. Which also intimidates. I will either stare at the screen as people applaud around me or join in. Thankfully, expectations…

The most creative and hypnotic movie from the beginnings of cinema.

I can not begin to imagine living in 1929 and watching this movie. It's so experimental and technically innovative; I imagine every viewer in its time walked out of the cinema with their jaws on the ground.

It's widely told that Godard established the jump cut in "Breathless" but this is untrue because practically every cut in this IS a jump cut. Furthermore, this is only one of many…

I see it as a love letter to movies written many years before many of our favorite movies would ever be made. And it has true pulse-pounding, goosebump-raising excitement that really comes out of nothing, narratively speaking - or, more accurately, the excitement comes out of everything.

There's a scene towards the end when a camera seems to come to life and crawl out of its box, unite with its tripod, and walk away. The audience in the theater I…

This movie is a piece of art, and art is timeless. Anybody that says a film like this is "dated" must not understand the everlasting importance of a film like this. Not only is this film timeless, it also shows off the importance of film as a new and growing medium, a message that is still important and relevant today.

The film utilizes new and experimental techniques while documenting daily life in several Soviet cities. The movie may be the…

An artistic potential
Of a technological society
Of the human body
Of a new medium
And of an ideology.

(Slightly cheating by saying I am re-watching this, because I suddenly realized while viewing that I had seen the first hour a half-dozen times, but never the 2nd hour. This meant I missed all the athletic activity stuff, which recalls all the classical Muybridge tests, as well as the fantastic stuff in the cigarette factory and the mines. Also the stop…

Three years' worth of footage thoroughly edited and revised just to show a single day in soviet Russia condensed into roughly 70 minutes. To say that the end result it’s a pleasure to behold would be a gross understatement.

Most movies strive to fool the audience, to disguise its mechanisms behind smoke and mirrors while keeping the focus on the story. The Man with a Movie Camera does the exact opposite; it forsakes traditional storytelling, proudly displays every cinematic trick…