*Part of Prana Films' The Great Movies*
Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin is certainly a movie that stands the test of time. The movie is an exciting step into film editing and other such technology. The movie is simple in story, but rich in cultural history. We begin on the Potemkin, in which the sailor revolt due to poor conditions, such as their food; rotten with maggots.
After the brave Bolshevik Vakulinchuk dies after the soldiers take over the battleship, his body then becomes a symbol of public outcry. This then leads to the infamous staircase scene, where Tsarist soldiers massacre the citizens of Odessa.
The movie uses the technique of montage, relatively new at the time. The use of it in the movie is brilliant, helping give off the emotions the film is trying to portrait. If I were to nitpick, I would say the characters of the film are too simple and not fleshed out enough and are treated more like symbols, but this movie, in reality, is a propaganda film, and the characterization were intentional.
The editing is quick and skilled, giving a heart-pounding experience in a relatively short film (the Kino restoration is about 70 minutes long). If one were to view a film in which its editing could impact the masses, this would be the movie to see. It is noted that the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said that the film was, “a marvelous film without equal in the cinema ... anyone who had no firm political conviction could become a Bolshevik after seeing the film.” This showcases the amazing power the film has to have you root to the cause it presents.
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