Reviewed by Brett Schummer
April 2/14
Original Score: 5/5
April 2/14
Original Score: 5/5
Russian Montage casts aside its challengers in Sergei Eisenstein's psychologically crafted manifesto, Battleship Potemkin.
Going into Battleship Potemkin I had a relatively limited knowledge of Eisenstein's work. I had mulled some of his Notes of a Film Director and read a summary of his career, and methods of work, but I had never actually watched any of his films. So from what I'd read, going into the film I expected to see a lot of Russian Montage theory and Communist ideals coming through in the work. When I actually watched the film, I was surprised how dead on my expectations were. The film is just five massive montages soaked in Marxism. Personally, I loved this. This film is amazing, especially considering its age, and much can be learned from it.
Going into Battleship Potemkin I had a relatively limited knowledge of Eisenstein's work. I had mulled some of his Notes of a Film Director and read a summary of his career, and methods of work, but I had never actually watched any of his films. So from what I'd read, going into the film I expected to see a lot of Russian Montage theory and Communist ideals coming through in the work. When I actually watched the film, I was surprised how dead on my expectations were. The film is just five massive montages soaked in Marxism. Personally, I loved this. This film is amazing, especially considering its age, and much can be learned from it.
First of all, Battleship Potemkin is propaganda. Plain and simple. But despite the negative connotations of that word, Eisenstein makes a brilliant work of art. He has confirmed for me that propaganda can be art and that changing history for the purpose of his message has artistic merit. Despite changing certain aspects of the battle that did not occur in real life, Eisenstein maintains the importance of the event, and that's what really matters. Here's an artist who has fully realized that history is not about dates and facts but rather about the significance of those events. By portraying the battle in such a Marxist way, he is not really stretching the truth about what occurred, because a body count is not what matters. He doesn't have to direct realism because what happens on screen is how the battle happened from the perspective of the citizens and what the battle was more symbolic of. By exploiting this specific viewpoint of history, Eisenstein has remained artistic integrity while also creating a powerful propaganda film. This is something that few other films are able to do so well, and the fact that he made this masterpiece in 1925 only adds to the fact.
This is a film that has been chewed over so much that I don't even need to discuss the never-ending symbolism in the film. But I will anyways. Something that I specifically wanted to touch on was his treatment of power. For example, I think one of the main reasons why the film is viewed as such propaganda is because Eisenstein strips the Tzars of any humanity. Given the Odessa Staircase sequence, the Tzars are literally faceless and bear down on the innocent citizens. Eisenstein is sure to encompass a wide variety of people, with a focus on sympathetic characters, such as the child, the mother, and the physically disabled man. The innocent citizens are all shown in close-up with reaction shots to the horror that they are being subjected to, while the Tzar remain an ever present, unchanging force. This depiction that refuses to provide a human image of the Tzars is what drives home Eisenstein's point on the Odessa Staircase.
Contemporary audiences are much more likely to give this film a low rating due to its inability to capture their attention as a modern audience. I firmly reject this criticism. I give this film a five out of five for the same reason I still regard the Mona Lisa; just because something is old doesn't make it any less artistic. I would not hold this film up to modern film models for the same reason I would not compare the Mona Lisa to No. 5, 1948. The impact this film has on all aspects of film production and the power that the scenes deliver for audiences to this day secures it in my mind as a masterpiece. That is why I give Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin a perfect score of five out of five.
This is a film that has been chewed over so much that I don't even need to discuss the never-ending symbolism in the film. But I will anyways. Something that I specifically wanted to touch on was his treatment of power. For example, I think one of the main reasons why the film is viewed as such propaganda is because Eisenstein strips the Tzars of any humanity. Given the Odessa Staircase sequence, the Tzars are literally faceless and bear down on the innocent citizens. Eisenstein is sure to encompass a wide variety of people, with a focus on sympathetic characters, such as the child, the mother, and the physically disabled man. The innocent citizens are all shown in close-up with reaction shots to the horror that they are being subjected to, while the Tzar remain an ever present, unchanging force. This depiction that refuses to provide a human image of the Tzars is what drives home Eisenstein's point on the Odessa Staircase.
Contemporary audiences are much more likely to give this film a low rating due to its inability to capture their attention as a modern audience. I firmly reject this criticism. I give this film a five out of five for the same reason I still regard the Mona Lisa; just because something is old doesn't make it any less artistic. I would not hold this film up to modern film models for the same reason I would not compare the Mona Lisa to No. 5, 1948. The impact this film has on all aspects of film production and the power that the scenes deliver for audiences to this day secures it in my mind as a masterpiece. That is why I give Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin a perfect score of five out of five.