Dziga Vertov - the famous Soviet film director and screenwriter, is considered one of the founders of documentary films and his theorist. Thanks to him, a lot of the latest techniques appeared in the cinema, which made a real revolution in this art, for example, the hidden camera method. His 1929 film, depicting the life of a modern city, is considered the greatest documentary in history.
Childhood and youth
Dziga Vertov was born in 1895 in the small town of Bialystok, which was then located on the territory of the Russian Empire (now it is part of Poland). His father was a second-hand book player, his name was Abel Kaufman. He owned a large bookstore, as well as two stores. His mother's name was Hai-Esther Halpern, they married in Bialystok in 1894. By the way, the real name of the hero of our article is David Abelevich Kaufman.
After graduating from music school, having received initial home education, Vertov studied at the neuropsychiatric institute in Petrograd, at Moscow University. He coined the pseudonym "Dziga Vertov" for himself in 1915: "Dziga" comes from the Ukrainian word "dziga", which can literally be translated as "top".
In 1917, the hero of our article goes to work at the Moscow Film Committee, where he provides in the newsreel department.
Labor activity
Dziga Vertov becomes one of the first editors and compilers of the magazine "Kinonedelya". In 1920, initiates the release of the magazine "Kino-Pravda" already as a documentary director. Works at studios in Kiev and Moscow.
Dziga Vertov, whose biography is given in this article, writes scripts for documentaries, makes animated and feature films. For the film "Cinema Eye", which we will tell more about, in 1924 he received a diploma and a medal of the World Exhibition in Paris.
"Cinema"
He founded the Kinoki group, which he leads. After his move to Kiev, the creative team breaks up.
Creative association existed in the 20s. They issued a series of manifestos, contrasting themselves with traditional filmmakers. It all started with publications in avant-garde magazines in which members of the Kinoki group claimed the imminent death of traditional cinema. They criticized Russian and German drama, American films, rejecting production films with script, props, actors and sets.
In 1922, in the manifesto “We”, director Dziga Vertov and his supporters announced that he was going to clear the cinema of literature, music and theater, who were trying to “cling to it”, the members of the group would seek their own rhythm in the movement of things. Cinema of the future, in their opinion, should convey the truth of life.
In their manifestos, they also declared the imperfection of a person, contrasting him with an ideal machine - a movie camera. The main works of the association include the experimental study “Fight near Tsaritsyn”, the chronicles “Lenin Cinema Truth”, “Step, Council!”, “The Sixth Part of the World”, the film “Eleventh”, dedicated to the 11th anniversary of the October Revolution.
Sound documentary
In Soviet cinema, Vertov was one of the first to start making sound documentaries. These include the "Symphony of Donbass", "Three Songs of Lenin", "Lullaby".
When the Great Patriotic War began, he began to produce paintings on the struggle of the Soviet people against fascism and work in the rear. This tape "Oath of the young", "Blood for blood, death for death", "In the mountains of Ala-Tau." The works were the last projects of Vertov, all his subsequent proposals were rejected by the management.
From 1944 until his death, he only released the newsreel "News of the Day" as a director and editor. In total he made 55 rooms.
In February 1954, Vertov died at the age of 58. The cause of death was cancer. First, he was buried next to his mother in the Miussky cemetery, but 13 years later they moved the grave to the Novodevichy cemetery.
Personal life
Spouse Vertova was a Soviet film director and editor Elizabeth Svilova. In 1946, she won the Stalin Prize for the 1945 film Berlin . She was five years younger than her husband, was part of his creative association "Kinoki".
Her documentary "Atrocities of the Fascists" was used as evidence at the Nuremberg trials. Together with her husband, she shot the films "You Front", "Victory Banner".
She devoted the last years of her life to the publication and popularization of her husband’s creative heritage. She died in 1975 at the age of 75. Her grave is located at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Cameraman brothers
Both brothers of the hero of our article became cameramen. Mikhail Kaufman worked with Vertov until 1927 at Sovkino, and then worked at various film studios in Ukraine. From 1941 to 1977 - Director of Mostechfilm. He died in 1980 at the age of 82.
Boris Kaufman, unlike the brothers who adopted the October Revolution, emigrated with his parents to Poland, and then to France after 1917. In Paris, he entered the Sorbonne and then also began to work in the cinema, making documentary and feature films, commercials and commercials.
Boris Kaufman was the operator of all the films of the French director of poetic realism, Jean Vigo. It is believed that it was his work that influenced the directors of the French new wave. Boris worked on all four Vigo paintings - this is a dumb documentary short film “About Nice”, the film “Taris, or Swimming”, the drama “Zero for Behavior and the Romance“ Atlanta ”, a few months after the premiere of Vigo died of tuberculosis.
Also, Boris Kaufman worked on the films of Dimitri Kirsanov, Christian-Jacques, Hans Abel, Mark Allegre.
He fought at the front during the Second World War, when France was occupied, emigrated to the United States. In 1953 he received the Academy Award for best cinematography in Elia Kazan’s drama In the Port, starring Marlon Brando.
Literary Prototypes
Vertov is found in the novel “Golden Calf” by Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov. He is presented under the name of Extreme-Views, a great fighter for the idea of ​​a film fact, and also in the original edition as the author of the film "Impartial Lens".
The hero of the novel by Ilf and Petrov takes a close-up of the urn, as a result, it takes the form of a vent of a 42-centimeter gun. In addition, he considers his specialization to shoot under the wheels of a train.
Debut work
Vertov's first films in Soviet cinema were "Anniversary of the Revolution", "Battle in Tsaritsyno", "History of the Civil War", "The Social Revolutionary Process."
In 1924, he made one of the first animated films in the history of Soviet cinema. In fact, this is the original film adaptation of the political cartoons of the Soviet artist and cartoonist Viktor Denis, which were published in the newspaper Pravda.
The plot shows a morally decomposed bourgeois whose belly is stuffed with a huge amount of money. A centaur consisting of a worker and a peasant rips it open. The film ends with a remarkable ending, in which the Red Army appears, and the proletarians arrange a Christmas tree on which the enemies of Soviet society hang in the form of toys.
Cinema Eye
In 1924, one of the most famous films of Dzigi Vertov was released - a silent non-fiction picture, which was directed by the director’s brother Mikhail Kaufman. This is an experimental tape in which the foundations of film documentary of the hero of our article were laid. Critics spoke about it very controversially, but at the same time the tape received an award at the International Exhibition in Paris.
The tape consists of a series of short episodes, each of which is preceded by a caption title. These are sketches about festivities for songs and harmonica, about the promotion of the cooperative movement by schoolchildren (children visit markets, compare prices from single traders and cooperators, choosing in favor of the latter).
In a small episode called "Morning at the Camp," viewers get acquainted with pioneer life: how they live in tents, go to the river for water procedures, and cook their own food. In another episode, you can see how to build and open a camp. These episodes alternate with short sketches that are not related thematically. For example, a Chinese illusionist who shows tricks on the street, or the technique of an athlete when jumping into the water.
Preparing the film "Cinema Eye" of 1924, Vertov noted that this would be the first picture in the world for which actors, pavilions and scenery would not be needed, because the characters would live in real life. It was supposed that this would be a 6-episode newsreel, but Vertov managed to remove only the first issue, which received the working title "Life by surprise".
"Man with a movie camera"
This is the most famous experimental documentary film by Vertov, which was released in 1929. In this work, the hero of our article continued to experiment with the cinema-eye technique, trying to demonstrate the fundamental difference between cinema and literature and theater.
The tape is composed of small documentary fragments, some of which consist of only a few frames depicting the chaotic life of a modern city: the movement of people, transport, the labor of workers in large factories, hospitals, and cultural institutions.
Throughout the film "A Man with a Camera" you can observe a whole encyclopedia of editing techniques and camera techniques: shooting in reflection, beveled angles, fast and frame-by-frame shooting, combining several images in one frame. All episodes for the picture Vertov and his brother Michael were shot on the streets of Kiev, Odessa and Moscow. The film was edited by the director’s wife, making an absolutely plotless and abstract tape.
Sound Documentary
The film "Enthusiasm: Symphony of Donbass" in 1930 is the first Soviet sound documentary.
He was shot in mines and factories in Donbass, telling in detail about the implementation of the 5-year plan. For synchronous shooting of images and sound, the original equipment of the Shorin system was used.
Charlie Chaplin praised the painting, calling it one of the most impressive sound-seeing symphonies.
"Three songs about Lenin"
In 1934, Vertov makes a propaganda film called "Three Songs about Lenin." The picture tells how Soviet people love the leader of the revolution.
The song “My face was in a black prison” sounds in the tape, which tells of Lenin’s transformation of Central Asia.
The second song, "We Loved Him ..." shows the reaction of all nations to his death. A newsreel of the funeral and pictures of life in different parts of the Soviet Union are shown .
In the third song, entitled "In a large stone city", viewers learn about how the inhabitants of the USSR continue the work of Lenin after his death, what successes were achieved.
"Lullaby"
The release of the picture was scheduled for 1937, but after several days of rental, it was removed from the screen, declaring it forbidden to display without explanation.
Interestingly, Vertov’s initial plan was very different from the final version. It was assumed that the film will compare the fate of women in Soviet, Western and pre-revolutionary societies, but this scenario was rejected due to absurdity.
As a result, the picture begins with captions about women who sing lullaby to happiness. The first parts of the picture are lyrical fragments about the life of women in the 30s. Viewers see babies in wheelchairs, women in labor in maternity hospitals, schoolgirls at desks, students of a choreographic studio, factory workers, women before a parachute jump or at the time of grape harvest.
The final part of the film includes footage taken during official events. They can see Stalin, welcoming delegates to the All-Union Women's Conference, participants in events dedicated to the adoption of article 122 of the Constitution, which ensured the rights of modern women.
The final part of the picture is devoted to the newsreel of the Civil War in Spain, which is diluted with a demonstration of training flights in the USSR.
The film was eagerly awaited - it was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution. “Lullaby” was released, but after a few days all sessions were canceled without explanation. Apparently, the film did not like Stalin. According to some critics, this could happen because he is the only central male character in the picture surrounded by women. In this regard, the phrase "father of the people" acquired a completely different meaning: in the Vertov film, he constantly appears next to women, and in each next frame you can see a newborn child.