The direction of Sergei Eisenstein is original and powerful.
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
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Reviews Counted: 30
Fresh: 30
Rotten:0
Average Rating: 9/10
Consensus: A technical masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin is Soviet cinema at its finest, and its montage editing techniques remain influential to this day.
Runtime: 75 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: Sergei Eisenstein's film of the famed Odessa revolt has been one of the landmarks of cinema since its release. Commissioned by the government to commemorate the failed uprising of 1905, it's... Sergei Eisenstein's film of the famed Odessa revolt has been one of the landmarks of cinema since its release. Commissioned by the government to commemorate the failed uprising of 1905, it's without stars or even actors in the usual sense, exemplifying the collectivism it celebrates. The Battleship Potemkin has just returned from the war with Japan, its crew near mutiny because of brutal treatment and bad rations. When they're served maggot-infested meat one morning, the sailors finally rebel. One of the sailors, Vakulinchuk (Aleksandr Antonov), dissuades the officers from firing upon the mutineers, and they join the rest of the crew in revolt. Hearing of the mutiny, the people of Odessa send supplies to express their solidarity with the crew and gather en masse to mourn a slain sailor. The czar's troops arrive to dispel the crowd. In perhaps the most famous sequence in film history, the director rhymically intercuts shots of the troops marching machinelike down the Odessa steps with shots of innocent citizens being killed and wounded, in a brilliant embodiment of the director's theories of montage. Aside from CITIZEN KANE, perhaps the most perfectly constructed film ever made, the film's vision of tyranny and rebellion remain as powerful today as it was in 1925. [More]
Starring: Alexander Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Mikhail Goronov, Grigori Alexandrov
Starring: Alexander Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Mikhail Goronov, Grigori Alexandrov
Director: Sergei Eisenstein
Director: Sergei Eisenstein
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Release:
Sep 2, 1998
Reviews for Battleship Potemkin
Eisenstein proved himself to be the first of what would become a familiar filmmaking type: the entertainer/sadist.
Packs so much eye-and-heart power that its abrupt ending seems to come hard on the opening rather than an hour-and-a-third later.
Capturing a unique moment in time, Eisentsein's 1925 masterpiece is a must-see for viewers interested in film theory, history, and aesthetics, and not just because of its seminal Odessa Steps sequence, later imitated by many directors.
comes from a time where films communicated primarily through images, even if its themes fade into historical irrelevance.
It still fascinates as a shocking piece of history preserved on film.
Its appearance in 1925 shook the film world, and many filmmakers still haven't recovered.
As agitprop, Potemkin is a masterpiece. As art, it leaves something to be desired.
Nowadays, the film's technical achievements take center stage; its astonishing 'montage' editing techniques (which Eisenstein wrote about at length) still get the blood pumping.
Edward Tissé's camerawork remains impressive, and there's no doubt that the whole is a technical tour de force, but the obsession with forces of power, as opposed to individual experience, is ultimately oppressive.
Latest News for Battleship Potemkin
February 15, 2005:
Restoration Brings "Potemkin" Back to Full Glory
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