"The Man with the Camera"

The overall feeling of "The Man with the Camera" is that I hate this film more than I like it. I hate it because of the contrived editing in the post, the political indoctrination of the pre-shoot, and the deviated presentation of the facts. Was this really the case in the Soviet Union at this time? Maybe that's the case for the director, but Vertov's own political stance has stunned me, so it's no wonder he made something like this.

Now I start to think about a question, what kind of documentaries are worth watching? Exposition and tolerance are naturally a high profile, but preference is a must for everyone. I think the conformity of the three viewpoints is an important criterion for choosing to watch a documentary. Because of the commonality of understanding and nostalgia of the past, and the common concern for key node events, documentaries seem to carry the function of objectively presenting reality, but the reality is far from the case. The same Soviet Union, maybe Vertov and the director of "Bowling of Columbine" will have different expressions. The objectivity of the documentary is a false proposition, and the subjectivity is the real problem.

The great significance of the documentary lies in the fact that it can give you the most objective description of the phenomenon in all forms of expression. If you are a documentary filmmaker, you can advertise objectivity, impartiality, and selflessness, but that's just what you advertise, unconsciously advertise. A bit like the "zero-degree writing" of news, the documentary just presents it in the form of images. If you think the choice and writing of news stories is subjective, then accept the so-called "original sin" of documentaries. There are requirements for journalists to be objective and neutral, and documentary directors cannot relax in the reproduction of reality. Who can be a director? To use a sentence from an old newspaper, I think it is quite appropriate to express "not party, not selling, not selfish", he needs to have keen observation, independent and free thinking and firm and persistent endurance.

Back to the topic: The honorable thing about this film is that the director did it, at least he did a little thing, and the editing of the film is also used for reference by later people. I think Vertov is a documentary director that must be mentioned, just like history cannot be obliterated. Some people start a trend and the world becomes more diverse and colorful.

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