Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)

movie

(4792)

Country: Germany
Genres: Documentary
Release: 1928-05-13
Director: Walter Ruttmann
Writers: Carl Mayer (I) (1894–1944) , Walter Ruttmann , Karl Freund
Language: German
Stars: Paul von Hindenburg
Runtime: 65 min
Awards: 1 win & 1 nomination
AKA: Berlin: A Symphony of a Big City , 伯林-大都会交響楽 (Japan) , Симфония большого города , Berlin, simfonija velegrada (Serbia) , Berlim - Sinfonia da Metrópole (Brazil) , Berlin - symfonia wielkiego miasta (Poland) , Berlino - sinfonia di una grande città (Italy) , Verolino: I symfonia mias megaloupolis (Greece) , Berlin, egy nagyváros szimfóniája (Hungary) , Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (United States of America) , Berlín, sinfonía de una ciudad (Spain) , Berlin - Die Sinfonie der Großstadt , Βερολίνο: Η συμφωνία μιας μεγαλούπολης (Greece) , Berlín: Sinfonía de una gran ciudad (Argentina) , 柏林：城市交响曲 (China) , Berlin, symphonie d'une grande ville (France, French Republic) , Berlin: Symphony of a Great City , Berlin symphonie d'une grande ville (Canada) , Берлин-симфонията на големия град (Bulgaria) , Berlin - Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Germany) , Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (United States of America) , A Sinfonia de Uma Capital (Portugal, Portuguese Republic) , Berlin, storstadssymfoni (Sweden) , Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Canada) , Berlin, en storbysymfoni (Norway) , Berliini - Suurkaupungin sinfonia (Finland)
Plot: Preceding Dziga Vertov's Chelovek s kino-apparatom (1929), and before Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Walter Ruttmann's urban symphony of Berlin is a semi-documentary in five acts. Employing an enthralling visual rhythm, seamless jump-cuts, double-exposures, and a sense of perpetual motion, this non-narrative love-letter to the bustling German capital documents a single day in the life of Berlin, from sunrise until late at night, and everything in between. Against the backdrop of ceaseless movement, the camera swiftly follows the myriads of workers as they flock into towering factories, then, it moves from work to all sorts of entertainment, never shying away from sharp contrasts: the rich and the poor; humans and heavy machinery; beauty and ugliness.
IMDB:tt0017668