Man with a Movie Camera   

 

In the Nursery: Man with a Movie Camera

Showroom, Sheffield 29th April 1999

Man with a Movie Camera was filmed in Russia in the late 1920's by Vertov and has become something of a classic, partly because of its intimate portrayal of life in the day of a Russian city between the Lenin and Stalin eras but also for the techniques  - relentlessly fast editing, picture merging, scenes shot from vehicles etc. - which make it almost contemporary.
    Sheffield band In The Nursery's live soundtrack brings the whole thing bang up to date, with their use of the latest music technology to create a soundtrack which is wholly in keeping with the pace and innovation of the film.
    It was still a strange experience. Man with a Movie Camera is essentially the film of a film of a man making a film. And when the film took one step further back and showed footage on a cinema screen within a cinema screen it became people watching the film of a film of a man making a film. But that is how Vertov's film works - it's as multi-layered as a day in the life of a city. The music of In The Nursery - twin brothers Nigel and Klive Humberstone - broaden it still further.

Martin Lilleker,
Sheffield Telegraph
7th May 1999