Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)

Directed by Walter Ruttmann

A train roars across the countryside before coming into a station.  It's pre-dawn arrival in the city barely stirs the residents, but as the sun rises, the streets slowly come to life.  Machinery begins moving.  Automobiles and streetcars ferry passengers to and fro as pedestrians jump out of the way.  Children play.  Shopkeepers clean their front stoop.  A fight breaks out on a street corner.  A sad woman takes a suicidal leap into a river.



After the factories close, the residents begin their evening's entertainment.  There is hockey and car racing, gambling and shows.  The bright lights of the city shine as the fireworks erupt.  So what's this movie about?





Berlin: Symphony of a Great City is a documentary.  It is not like most modern documentaries where the story is real and the footage is real and the director finds the story within.  No, Berlin is about a thousand stories all taking place within one city on one day. It's meant to give you a sense of the rhythm and atmosphere of the place without ever telling its story.



You won't get any sense of Berlin's history watching this.  You won't even get a sense of its industries or people except on the most superficial level.  What you see and feel is the pulse of a city as it awakens and stretches in the morning, as it develops a frenetic pace in its daily activities, as it plays hard into the evening.  



A lot of that sense of momentum comes through the editing.  Director Walter Ruttmann never lingers on any shot person or location for more than few seconds.  His eye is constantly roaming, always searching for the next piece of the city, from the mundane to the extraordinary.



The movie succeeds so well at showing us this city in an hour that it underlines its greatest weakness.  Some of the moments captured are fascinating enough it leaves the audience to wonder at the backstory or to consider what happens next.  Why did the woman jump into the river?  Why were the two men fighting?  What was the guy on the street corner yelling that so commanded an audience?  



Of course, none of these people or stories matter.  The point, the only point, is the heartbeat of Berlin.  Ruttman captures it in exquisite detail from its architecture and industry to its rich and its beggars.  The film has no linear narrative, but it is an extraordinary portrait of a place and a time that left me riveted and wanting more.



**** out of *****



NOTE: I should add to this that while I believe it is on the whole a documentary, I cannot believe some of the scenes weren't staged.  Particularly given the camera technology of the time, it's a stretch to believe that Ruttman just happened upon the suicide or the street fight (filmed from multiple angles).  The staged nature of some of the shots takes nothing from the authenticity of the whole.