Anamnesis

in 1924 dziga vertov made man with a movie camera, a visceral account of the "age of mechanical reproduction," created in a medium to which benjamin often refers in his essay. benjamin says that the desire for replication is "namely, the desire of contemporary masses to bring things 'closer' spatially and humanly." in this film, instead of trying to bring the original image of any given subject closer to humanity, the insides of the medium (the reel, the tripod, and most importantly they eye "kino" or lens) to consciousness. we get a film without a plot, a montage of images- some repeated, some not- exposing the inner workings of the mechanical age. with film, benjamin argues, replication has surpassed photography and lithograph in that it now replicates life at the speed we experience it everyday. instead of the aura of a single object being diminished, the aura of life is in a way diminished more generally. as for plot driven films, the actor is now "subjected to a series of optical tests." various angles and visages interpret the actor in a way that the stage actor had not been subjected to. this is a new "mode" of experience for humans in 20's. "During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity's entire mode of existence. The manner in which human sense perception is organized, the medium in which it is accomplished, is determined not only by nature but by historical circumstances as well." film has been a major turning point in the perception of history as a whole, and the nostalgia with which collectively we interpret life.