Isaiah Isaacson
During the early 1900’s, the relatively new concept of film was emerging as one of the most popular forms of entertainment. As more and more improvements were made to the motion picture camera filmmakers were able to begin exploring the realm of creative possibilities they could achieve. Two notable films that that did this are Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera, and Sergei Eisenstein's Strike. Both films are known for their groundbreaking use of montage and the powerful messages the two films convey through their scenes.
In 1929, Dziga Vertov released a sixty eight minute silent film he titled “Man with a Movie Camera”. The film is a montage depicting urban life in the Soviet Union from dawn to dusk in a single day. …show more content…
The film depicts a factory worker strike just before the Bolshevik revolution in 1905. In the film, a worker is accused of stealing a piece of machinery from the factory he works at, and commits suicide. As a result, his comrades at the factory revolt against the oppressive regime which owns the factory. As time goes on, the strike grows and the regime’s tactics for controlling and ending the strike grow more severe. The film is very famous for several reasons. One of which being that it was used as propaganda to remind its viewers in the Soviet Union why they revolted in the first place. Another reason why this film is so famous is because of the finals scenes of the movie in which the desperate factory workers collide with the police force. This epic scene is cross-cut with images of cattle being slaughtered. This is meant to symbolize defeat, while also working to conjure a sympathetic response from the audience. All in all, Eisenstein's “Strike” is considered one of the first films to conjure such a strong emotional response from its viewers, and the final scene along with the entire film have gone down in history as some of the most important in all of motion picture
During the early 1900’s, the relatively new concept of film was emerging as one of the most popular forms of entertainment. As more and more improvements were made to the motion picture camera filmmakers were able to begin exploring the realm of creative possibilities they could achieve. Two notable films that that did this are Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera, and Sergei Eisenstein's Strike. Both films are known for their groundbreaking use of montage and the powerful messages the two films convey through their scenes.
In 1929, Dziga Vertov released a sixty eight minute silent film he titled “Man with a Movie Camera”. The film is a montage depicting urban life in the Soviet Union from dawn to dusk in a single day. …show more content…
The film depicts a factory worker strike just before the Bolshevik revolution in 1905. In the film, a worker is accused of stealing a piece of machinery from the factory he works at, and commits suicide. As a result, his comrades at the factory revolt against the oppressive regime which owns the factory. As time goes on, the strike grows and the regime’s tactics for controlling and ending the strike grow more severe. The film is very famous for several reasons. One of which being that it was used as propaganda to remind its viewers in the Soviet Union why they revolted in the first place. Another reason why this film is so famous is because of the finals scenes of the movie in which the desperate factory workers collide with the police force. This epic scene is cross-cut with images of cattle being slaughtered. This is meant to symbolize defeat, while also working to conjure a sympathetic response from the audience. All in all, Eisenstein's “Strike” is considered one of the first films to conjure such a strong emotional response from its viewers, and the final scene along with the entire film have gone down in history as some of the most important in all of motion picture