Kinoglaz
(1924)

AKA: Kino Eye

Country: Soviet Union

Genre: Documentary

Synopsis

In the recently founded Soviet Union, Young Pioneers go about zealously improving society - illuminating the Soviet path for the benefit of the unenlightened. However, director Dziga Vertov never forgets that they?re human beings, and the film also shows them diving and swimming in the local swimming hole, just like any other group of boys in the world. Contrasted with these handsome, heroic youngsters is the social flotsam left behind from the pre-revolutionary era - drunken peasants, black market dealers, and patients of mental asylums!

Notes

• AKA "Kino-Eye", "Kino-Eye - Life Caught Unawares" and "Cine-Eye"
• Directed by Soviet pioneer of cinema Dziga Vertov (1896-1954). "Kino Eye" is also the name of the cinematic movement which Vertov founded, which is exemplified in this movie, and which found its most complete expression in Vertov's 1929 film "Man with a Movie Camera". The main idea behind Kino Eye was that the "eye" of the camera, being a machine, saw life more accurately than the subjective eye of a human. So films should aim at capturing real life, rather than dwell on fictional narrative themes. In part, this was a reaction to the Hollywood films that were being shown in Communist Russia following a temporary relaxation of censorship - Vertov objected to Hollywood?s artificial depiction of life. The aim of Vertov's films, by contrast, was "kino-pravda" (cinematic truth), firmly grounded in Marxist-Leninist theory. However, Vertov believed that Kino Eye should be highly experimental and innovative in the way in which shots were put together, and Vertov employed a number of then-novel cinematic techniques, such as backwards sequences and unusual camera angles. Since there are no 'actors' in this film, and none of the Young Pioneers in the movie are identified by name, no cast details are provided on this page.
• This film is included as an extra on the 2-disc edition of the (Region 2) 'Masters of Cinema' release of "Man with a Movie Camera" (link at top right of page). It is also available to view on YouTube.