Stachka (1925)

Director:

Sergei M. Eisenstein

Writers:

Grigori Aleksandrov (writer)
Sergei M. Eisenstein (writer)

Release Date:

28 April 1925 (Soviet Union)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In Russia's factory region during Czarist rule, there's restlessness and strike planning among workers; management brings in spies and external agents...

Plot Keywords:

Factory | Cult Director | Water | Public Domain | Experimental Film

Cast

Maksim Shtraukh	...	Police Spy
Grigori Aleksandrov	...	Factory Foreman
Mikhail Gomorov	...	Worker
I. Ivanov	...	Chief of Police
Ivan Klyukvin	...	Revolutionary
Aleksandr Antonov	...	Member of Strike Committee
Yudif Glizer	...	Queen of Thieves
Anatoli Kuznetsov
Vera Yanukova
Vladimir Uralsky		(as V. Uralsky)
M. Mamin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Boris Yurtsev	...	King of Thieves

Also Known As:

Стачка (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Gapitsva (Soviet Union: Georgian title)
Strike

Runtime:

82 min | Spain:81 min | UK:95 min | Spain:94 min (DVD special edition)

Country:

Soviet Union

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Spain:18

Company:

Goskino

Movie Connections:

Featured in Die verschiedenen Gesichter des Sergej Eisenstein (1997) (TV)

Superb Propaganda Piece

This film came out in 1925, not yet a decade into the newly-minted Bolshevik Revolution; therefore, Stalin was there to make sure Eisenstein would make a film that would glorify the worker and vilify the capitalist. As far as that goes, no film is better. As far as a film with more complexity, or any sort of real story, however, this is not a film to see.

But Strike! is superbly directed, a visual masterpiece. All through the film, you see bodies. Bodies running, jumping, moving, falling, fighting, climbing. Those are the workers. The fat bodies and the grotesque faces stuffing themselves on caviar--those are the capitalists. There is much action and fast movement. Eisenstein does not insult your intelligence either; his direction is fast, but economical: nod off for a bit and you'll miss a lot.

Eisenstein, not encumbered with scripts or actors flubbing their lines, or even much of a plot, does an amazing job doing split-second cinematographic cuts throughout this 93 minute gem. Many "artsy" shots are used: upside-down; mirror; invisibility & fades; shadow/profiles;and interesting point-of-view perspective shots. The action is constant, the facial expressions human and disturbing. There is also humor, earthiness, and clever scenes and motifs.

This film is a must-see for any film student. Eisenstein squeezes every last ounce of cinematic art from his lens to produce a lasting gem of a film.