The Paradox of Conformity and Non Conformity in "The Man With the Movie Camera"

"The Man With the Movie Camera" is undoubtedly an avant-garde and experimental film. It seems to have no real narrative or plot, shows us what happens behind the camera (something films rarely do), and uses a strikingly wide range of interesting filming techniques, such as when the camera becomes "drunk" in the bar, double exposure, slow motion, split screens, and fast motion. Additionally, the film uses unique transitions such as the extreme close up of the editor's eye and when we actually see the editor cutting together scenes from a beauty parlor with images of manual labor. The film is also singular in the way it uses the camera not just to capture and passively reflect to the audience what is happening in the misc-en-scene, but also to actively reflect what is happening, such as when the camera does a magic act of its own during the shot with the magician. What makes this movie especially memorable, however, is that it seems the cameraman has no boundaries; he even ends up in a beer glass.

Experimental films, a category which "The Man With the Movie Camera" certainly belongs to, are inherently non-conformist, and while watching this interesting film there is no question that Vertov openly flouts our expectations of cinema. Yet, while reading Graham Roberts analysis of the film, especially the chapter regarding the film's history, I could not help but reflecting on the irony of how, when stripped down to just a central message, the film is in reality incredibly conformist. It is not only a documentary and experimental film, but a piece of propaganda meant to glorify Stalin's ideas of "socialism in one country."  The glorification of machines, workers, and transportation throughout the film is in direct concordance with Stalin's goals of industrialization.  Moreover, the portrayal of peasant drunks juxtaposed next to the "good" Soviet worker is a not-so-subtle criticism of the peasantry, who often opposed Stalin's policies, such as in the case of the non-existent grain surplus they were expected to share with the rest of the country mentioned by Roberts.  The film, as a whole, is a celebration of the Soviet city, the heart of Stalin's Soviet Union.

"The Man With The Movie Camera" is a paradox.  Although it shocks us by its lack of normalcy, when examined farther it is actually a piece of conformist propaganda hidden beneath the facade of an experimental film.