Movie Review: The Battleship Potemkin Re-Release

The Battleship Potemkin 

1925

Starring: Grigori Aleksandrov, Aleksandr Pavlovich Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Ivan Bobrov, Mikhail Gomorov and Beatrice Vitoldi

Written by:  Nina Agadzhanova, Nikolai Aseyev, Sergei Eisenstein and Sergei Tretyakov

Directed by: Sergei Eisenstein

I hadn't seen this since college and back then, with my limited exposure to silent films, I liked it but wasn't blown away. Silent films take a bit of work at first. I have watched many more at this point and there are ones out there that I think are great.  I loved Modern Times, Metropolis, The Strong Man, Shoulder Arms and after seeing it again, The Battleship Potemkin. Of course there are many great silent films that I haven't seen.  If I didn't have Skinimax maybe my world would be very different and that would change.  

The film tells the story about the 1905 showdown between the Potemkin and the Tsarist regime, a moment that sets the stage for the revolution of 1917.  It is also a landmark film in the use of montage or the Kuleshov Effect, the most famous being the Odessa Steps sequence.  The film is told in five parts and we start on a ship where the sailors are forced by the officers to eat rotten, maggot infested meat.  It's quite gleefully disgusting and Eisenstein really captures the divide between the soldiers and the officers, who represent Tsarist Russia.  The next sequence is the mutiny, which features the fantastic sequence where the officers order that some of the men have a tarp put over them before they are shot. During this part of the film one of the sailor's leader Vakulinchuk is killed.  This leads to the final parts of the film and so as not to ruin this for you, I will stop right here.  

The film is very powerful and since there's no dialogue the images carry more weight than and deserve more attention than what we're used to providing.  And after you get in the rhythm of the editing the images become more and more powerful as the film unfolds.  The famous Odessa Steps sequence is intense and Eisenstein doesn't shy away from graphic violence, especially the woman whose son is shot and then trampled by the crowd as he tries to get to safety.  Then there is the mom who is shot and the famous baby carriage as it travels wildly down the steps.  Even if it wasn't used in The Untouchables the image of the carriage is burned into the brain of any self-respecting cinefile.  I'd seen it a million times and watching it again on the big screen I was still moved.  

The film looks great on its 35mm transfer.  The marks and scratches were few and the tinting of the red flag towards the end was nice. If you get a chance, you should see this on the big screen.  Every movie should be seen, if possible, in the format for which it was originally intended; and that means the big screen.  Granted my 46" flatscreen is better than any old tube tv and it's good in a bind, but seeing The Battleship Potemkin on a thirty foot screen is an experience everyone should have.  

I give The Battleship Potempkin a solid A+.  Rush out and see if it comes to your city. 

Here is the trailer: