Film Makers and Their Political Significance

Running head: FILM MAKERS AND THEIR POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Film makers and their political significance
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1FILM MAKERS AND THEIR POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Introduction
Movies are the visual representation of the society and the various events that are
occurring in this human society. It shows how such various situations end up impacting the lives
of the individuals in a significant manner. Since the inception of the concept of movies, the aim
has been to provide entertainment to the people (Muriel & Crawford, 2018). However, there
have always been certain film makers in the history of human civilization who have tried to bring
out the societal issues faced by the people in front of the audience. Their objective is to make the
people politically and socially aware about all the different problems that plague our own
society. This was done with the idea that movies have a preponderant influence on the people
(Lazar & Litvak Hirsch, 2019). Hence, they must be utilized in such a manner that will enable
the betterment and improvement of the society (Kostoulas et al., 2015). In this respect, this
research paper seeks to analyze the work of two film makers, namely those of Dziga Vertov and
Charlie Chaplin. The aim of this paper is to show how their movies have had a significant impact
on the society from the view point of making the people more politically and socially aware
about the different existing societal problems.
Discussion
Dziga Vertov
Dziga Vertov was a famous film maker belonging to the twentieth century. He was born
in the region of Soviet Union and was always highly inspired by the societal issues which were
affecting the human civilization. Vertov is credited with the idea of introducing the concept of
Montage Movement which is one of the revolutionizing ideas in the field of art and literature
(Michelson, 2017). He wanted his audience to be aware of the various problems of the society
and in this respect, he directed his movies in such a manner which showed the raw reality

2FILM MAKERS AND THEIR POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE
prevailing within the societal frame work (Sundar et al., 2016). Vertov was against the idea of
directing movies simply for the idea of providing entertainment to the public. He wanted the
common masses to be aware of their problems and take concrete measures in order to resolve
such problems. This followed from the believe that the world had recently witnessed one of the
most devastating incidents in the form of the First World War. The common people were
severely impacted and they lost their self confidence in the process. They were of the opinion
that they would not be able to improve their position in the society (Christensen & Haas, 2015).
In this respect, a lot of utopian ideas were being circulated in the society by the politicians who
wanted to keep their citizens in a passive mode so that they would not retaliate against their own
state leaders. This was necessary because it was under the orders and command of their state
leaders that the common people marched to war (Michelson, 2017).
Vertov wanted to present the real prevailing picture of the society in front of the people
so that they would be made aware about their conditions. In this manner, Vertov launched a new
idea in the field of film making, known as the Montage Movement. The Montage Movement
aimed to capture the real life conditions of the society with the help of a camera which would be
following the people in the movie, trying to capture their real emotions in the process. Dziga
Vertov produced one of the most brilliant movies under the aegis of this Movement, known as
“Man with the Camera” (Bard, 2015). In this movie, he brilliantly portrayed the different societal
divisions of the society, such as the upper class with monetary resources and the lower class of
people who could not afford even the basic means of subsistence. The movie was not shot in a
conventional or traditional manner, but it rather tried to provide a new angle to the direction of
the movie which would align with its real objectives of making the people socially and
politically aware (Michelson, 2017).