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Man with a Movie Camera poster

Movies that feel likeMan with a Movie Camera (1929)

A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.

If you loved Man with a Movie Camera, the closest films we have are Nanook of the North (1922), The Last Laugh (1924) and How Green Was My Valley (1941). All three share Man with a Movie Camera's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987).

🍅 98% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Dziga Vertovcontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Criterion Channel

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If Man with a Movie Camera hit the spot, these will too

Nanook of the North poster
Nanook of the North
1922 · dir. Robert Flaherty
🍅 100%★ 7.6documentary · dramaMax

One thread runs through both: silent film

The difference: Leans harder into drama than Man with a Movie Camera does

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

The Last Laugh poster
The Last Laugh
1924 · dir. F. W. Murnau
🍅 100%★ 8drama

The same preoccupation in both: black and white

An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel, is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.

How Green Was My Valley poster
How Green Was My Valley
1941 · dir. John Ford
🍅 93%★ 7.7drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: black and white

Huw Morgan, the academically inclined youngest son in a proud family of Welsh coal miners, witnesses the tumultuous events of his young life during a period of rapid social change. At the dawn of the 20th-century, a miners' strike divides the Morgans: the sons demand improvements, and the father doesn't want to rock the boat.

Hoop Dreams poster
Hoop Dreams
1994 · dir. Steve James
🍅 98%★ 8.3documentaryMax

Both lean on stillness more than on documentary

The difference: 65 years apart, and the 1990s show

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

The Cove poster
The Cove
2009 · dir. Louie Psihoyos
🍅 95%★ 8.4documentary

Contemplative documentary in both cases

The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.

Harlan County U.S.A. poster
Harlan County U.S.A.
1976 · dir. Barbara Kopple
🍅 100%★ 8.2documentaryMax

Documentary with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.

Streetwise poster
Streetwise
1984 · dir. Martin Bell
🍅 92%★ 8.2documentary

Both play documentary straight

This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On poster
🍅 100%★ 8.2documentary

The documentary is handled with the same confidence

Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old veteran of the New Guinea campaign in World War II, sets out to conduct interviews with survivors and relatives to find the truth behind atrocities committed by Japanese military, in particular the unexplained killing of two Japanese privates in his unit.

Late Spring poster
Late Spring
1949 · dir. Yasujirō Ozu
🍅 100%★ 8.2dramaMax

A 1940s answer to the same itch

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

Baraka poster
Baraka
1992 · dir. Ron Fricke
🍅 85%★ 8.5documentaryPrime Video

Documentary approached the same way

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse poster
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991 · dir. George Hickenlooper
🍅 100%★ 8.1documentary

Both are documentary through and through

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

Isle of Flowers poster
Isle of Flowers
1989 · dir. Jorge Furtado
★ 8.5documentary

The same documentary instincts

A tomato is planted, harvested and sold at a supermarket, but it rots and ends up in the trash. But it doesn’t end there: Isle of Flowers follows it up until its real end, among animals, trash, women and children. And then the difference between tomatoes, pigs and human beings becomes clear.

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The best-reviewed films that share Man with a Movie Camera’s defining feeling.