Berlin Symphony of a Great City
Walter Ruttmann | Germany | 1927 | 79 minutes
 | The title says it all: this is a visual symphony in five movements celebrating the Berlin of 1927: the people, the place, the everyday details of life on the streets. Director Walter Ruttman re-creates documentary as, in his own words, "a melody of pictures." Within the loose structure of a day in the life of the city, the film takes us from dawn to dusk, observing the silent city as it awakens with a bustle of activity, then the action builds and calms until the city settles back into sleep. But the city is as much the architecture, the streets, and the machinery of industry as it is people, and Ruttman weaves all these elements together to create a portrait in montage, the poetic document of a great European city captured in action. Held together by rhythm, movement, and theme, Ruttman creates a documentary that is both involving and beautiful to behold
http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/00/5/berlin.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017668/ Screening on: Sunday 14th March 2010 at 4:30PM Showing as part of the mini-season Sunday 28th March 2010 at 2:00PM |