Berlin Symphony

The title is a perfect way to summarize this film. “Berlin Symphony of a Great City” concentrates on the different aspects that make up a city. From the waking of the day to the night life, everything has meaning and purpose. For 1929 this film was very innovative, had strong analogies, and was deliberate in the message that was coming across.
      Walter Ruttmann starts off the film with the point of view coming from inside of a passing train. The train by passes everything and it is symbolic of the fast pace city life. At the beginning of the day the city seems lifeless and abandoned. You see papers flying around, closed stores, and a couple of people. The silence of this film makes us focus on the images and the whole concept of a city. Ruttmann also made it so that there was not any one protagonist, so that the view of the city was not bias. It can also be considered as a historical documentary; as the film continues there is a general feel for how Berlin was in 1927. Throughout the day it gets busier and goes in depth with details. It gets into the industrial revolution as a part of life. It shows the workers going to work and everything opening. At noon, when everything stops, they go to lunch. Then back to work; and at the end of the day when they’re finished everything closing.

INNOVATIONS:
This film consists of many elements that were not really used before this film had come out. Ruttmann had more money to spend on the footage, which helped him to elaborate and make it better. It was not like a featured film because there is no set or actors, however some things were manipulated; for instance when a woman is looking off a bridge wanting to commit suicide. There is the impression that she did, while people come together to observe the incident. This is most likely set up and the people are actors.

ANALOGIES:
He also emphasis’ on many analogies such as poor vs. rich and man vs. machine. This allows room for interpretation. Some might interpret it...