Marxist Truth in Man with the Movie Camera

In Man with the Movie Camera , Dziga Vertov’s goal is transcription of Marxist truth onto film, thus enlightening the proletariat through his work. Vertov’s innovative use of Constructivist montage and kino-eye often becomes the focus of Vertov studies. Unfortunately, many scholars forget that Vertov had an agenda whilst creating his films, that is, the enlightenment of the proletariat. It is the content of the film, not the means with which it is put together that will convey meaning to the working man. In my essay I show that defining Vertov as simply a Constructivist is limited, because it ignores Vertov’s thorough use of Marxist theory of social interaction The content of the film covers all of man’s productivity, not simply as applied to mechanical labor.

I describe Constructivist philosophy as the glorification of the machine as a means of creating a new more productive society. Constructivist designs and art convey the philosophy using clean lines, and simple geometric shapes. Constructivists considered themselves to be engineers, not artists. In general, the art took the form of architectural designs of buildings that would be utilitarian and multi-functional. Vertov too is in awe of machinery and the combination of man and machine, organic and inorganic is a common theme in many of his shots. His technical usage of montage, split shots as well as scenes of gears turning, and the specific mechanical production of the cigarettes and the spinning bobbins can all be considered Constructivist techniques. Vertov, more than the Constructivists, however, focuses much more on the human aspect. To ignore this upon examination of this film is to ignore Vertov’s original intent of transcribing Marxist theory onto film.

The basis for the content fits into Marx’s four historical truths of human interaction as described in his German Ideology. Truth is man’s productive nature. History therefore ought to be a record of man’s productivity, thus the focus on industry. “But life involves before everything else eating and drinking, a habitation, clothing and many other things. The first historical act is thus the production of the means to satisfy these needs, the production of material life itself.”(Marx 4/7). Marx then describes the second historical act as the actual satisfaction of these needs. The third historical act begins to involve human interaction, the creation of a family. . The fourth act, which becomes most evident in large industrial social settings, is social cooperation.

The first three acts are conveniently transposed in Man with the Movie Camera from the definitions that Marx gave them. There are scenes illustrating basic needs as well as those that show the production of a family. The fourth historical act is more complicated. It arranges itself into two sections, work and leisure, both of which are actively depicted as productive means of social interaction. I find the leisure section to be of the utmost importance, not only because of its relation to Marxist theory, but because it is the section most often ignored by scholars.

I argue in my essay that it is Constructivism in fact that detracted from Vertov’s goal of enlightening the proletariat. Since the movie is so visually complicated, the message itself becomes harder for the ordinary working man to understand. The movie thus becomes impractical as propaganda.