Battleship Potemkin (1925) Bronenosets Potyomkin (original title)

Director:

Sergei M. Eisenstein

Writer:

Nina Agadzhanova (script)
(more)

Release Date:

24 December 1925 (Soviet Union)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resulting street demonstration which brought on a police massacre.

Plot Keywords:

Revolution | Mutiny | Battleship | Massacre | Naval

Cast

Aleksandr Antonov	...	Grigory Vakulinchuk - Bolshevik Sailor
Vladimir Barsky	...	Commander Golikov
Grigori Aleksandrov	...	Chief Officer Giliarovsky
Ivan Bobrov	...	Young Sailor Flogged While Sleeping (as I. Bobrov)
Mikhail Gomorov	...	Militant Sailor
Aleksandr Levshin	...	Petty Officer
N. Poltavtseva	...	Woman With Pince-nez
Konstantin Feldman	...	Student Agitator
Prokopenko	...	Mother Carrying Wounded Boy
A. Glauberman	...	Wounded Boy
Beatrice Vitoldi	...	Woman With Baby Carriage
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brodsky	...	Student
Julia Eisenstein	...	Woman with Food for Sailors
Sergei M. Eisenstein	...	Odessa Citizen
Andrey Fayt	...	Recruit (as A. Fait)
Korobei	...	Legless Veteran
Marusov	...	Officer
Protopopov	...	Old Man
Repnikova	...	Woman on the Steps
Vladimir Uralsky
Zerenin	...	Student
Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo	...	Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
Sergei M. Eisenstein		(as S.M. Eisenstein)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Nina Agadzhanova		script (as N.F. Agadzhanova-Shutko)
Nikolai Aseyev		intertitles (uncredited)
Sergei M. Eisenstein		uncredited
Sergei Tretyakov		intertitles (uncredited)

Original Music by
Eric Allaman		(1986)
Yati Durant
Vladimir Heifetz
Nikolai Kryukov		(1950)
Chris Lowe
Edmund Meisel		(as Meisel)
Sheldon Mirowitz		(2011)
Neil Tennant

Cinematography by
Eduard Tisse
Vladimir Popov		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Grigori Aleksandrov		(re-issue) (uncredited)
Sergei M. Eisenstein		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Vasili Rakhals		(uncredited)

Production Management
Brian Shirey	....	production manager (2007 alternate version)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Grigori Aleksandrov	....	assistant director (as T. Aleksandrov)

Sound Department
Yevgeni Kashkevich	....	sound recordist (1950 re-issue)

Editorial Department
Sala Deinema	....	work print editor: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin (2007 alternate version)
Ron Heidt	....	title editor (2007 alternate version)
Erika Schmidt	....	negative cutter: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin (2007 alternate version)
Gerhard Ullmann	....	colorization (2007 alternate version)
Jay Leyda	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Helmut Imig	....	conductor: Deutsches Filmorchestra Babelsberg (2007 alternate version)
Helmut Imig	....	instrumentation: Edmund Meisel's 1926 score (2007 alternate version)
Helmut Imig	....	music adaptor: Edmund Meisel's 1926 score (2007 alternate version)

Other crew
Aleksandr Antonov	....	assistant to director (as A. Antonov)
Anna Bohn	....	reconstruction collaborator (2007 alternate version)
Mikhail Gomorov	....	assistant to director (as M. Gomorov)
S. Kazakov	....	supervisor (1950 reissue)
A. Kotoshev	....	administrator
A.P. Kryukov	....	administrator
Aleksandr Levshin	....	assistant to director (as A. Levshin)
Enno Patalas	....	reconstruction director (2007 alternate version)
Maksim Shtraukh	....	assistant to director (as M. Shtraukh)
Bret Wood	....	title designer (2007 alternate version)
Hertzel Effensachs	....	director: marine sequences (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Goskino

Distributors

• Goskino (1925) (Soviet Union) (theatrical)
• Amkino Corporation (1926) (USA) (theatrical)
• Prometheus-Film-Verleih und Vertriebs-GmbH (1926) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Alta Films (1988) (Spain) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2006) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Kosmos-Filmi (1952) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Kosmos-Filmi (1969) (Finland) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Kosmos-Filmi (1978) (Finland) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Sovexportfilm (????) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Finland) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Barium Video (1994) (Finland) (VHS)
• Circulo Digital (????) (Spain) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2007) (Spain) (DVD)
• Empresa Hispanoamericana de Video (EHV) (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Eureka Entertainment (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Facets Multimedia Distribution (????) (USA) (VHS)
• FilmAnnex (2006) (worldwide) (all media)
• Films sans Frontières (2006) (France) (DVD)
• General Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Icestorm Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• International Visual Corporation (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kino International (2007) (worldwide) (all media) (2007 alternate version)
• Kino Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Kinovideoobedinenie "Krupniy Plan" (????) (Russia) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1965) (Finland) (TV)
• MediaOutlet.com (????) (USA) (DVD) (as 'Battleship Potemkin')
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Timeless Video (2000) (USA) (VHS) (1960s Blackhawk Films source print)
• Velissarios (1995) (Greece) (VHS) (sell through)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1978) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• German Federal Cultural Foundation  project development (2007 alternate version)
• Deutsche Kinemathek für Film und Fernsehen  producer (2007 alternate version)
• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv  with the support of (2007 alternate version) (as Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin)
• British Film Institute (BFI)  with the support of (2007 alternate version)
• Filmmuseum Berlin  with the support of (2007 alternate version)
• Gosfilmofond of Russia, Moscow  with the support of (2007 alternate version)
• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv  negative duplication (2007 alternate version) (as Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin)
• Moser Rosié  title work (2007 alternate version)
• Taunus Film, Wiesberg  processing laboratory (2007 alternate version)
• Ries & Erler  music: Edmund Meisel's 1926 score courtesy of (2007 alternate version)
• Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek  music adaptation commissioned by (2007 alternate version)
• Filmmuseum Berlin  music adaptation commissioned by (2007 alternate version)
• Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg  music performed by (2007 alternate version) (as Deutsches Filmorchestra Babelsberg)
• Kino International  titles: English (2007 alternate version)

Also Known As:

"Bronenosets Potyomkin" - Soviet Union (original title)
"Potemkin" - USA (informal title)
"The Armored Cruiser Potemkin" - USA (alternative title)
"The Battleship Potemkin" - USA (video box title)

Runtime:

75 min | Spain:70 min | Spain:77 min | USA:66 min | Argentina:80 min | Spain:68 min (DVD edition) | 72 min (17 fps) (Blu-ray)

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.25 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:(Banned) (1930) | Finland:K-12 (1978) | Finland:K-16 (1952) | Germany:(Banned) (1933-1945) | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL (video rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Portugal:17 (1974) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/16 (video rating) | Spain:T | Sweden:(Banned) (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated | Italy:(Banned) (1925 - 1960) | Italy:T (1960) | Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | South Korea:15 (1994) | Sweden:15 (re-rating) (cut) (1946) | Sweden:15 (re-rating) (uncut) (1952) | Portugal:(Banned) (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Alupka, Crimea, Ukraine

Company:

Goskino

Trivia:

The movie was released in Moscow in 1925. It was competing for box office with Robin Hood (1922), an American movie starring Douglas Fairbanks. The Soviet government hoped 'Potyomkin' would earn more than 'Robin Hood' in its opening week, as this would be a symbol of the revitalization of Russian arts after the Revolution. In the event, 'Robin Hood' won, but it was a close race.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Odessa Steps sequence as the mother walks with her son towards the oncoming troops, a long shot shows as she approaches, the soldiers halt one flight of stairs above the one she is on. In the next shot, however, the soldiers are marching down another flight of stairs as if they are going to walk right past her. Then in the next scene they have stopped again and are on the same flight of stairs as if they hadn't moved at all.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Still one of the best films ever made.

Quite a lot has been said about this film and its landmark importance in forming the language of film. If you are interested in film history, to truly understand the innovations Eisenstein brings to the medium you might try viewing Potemkin along side most any film made before it (those of D.W. Griffith offer a good contrast). It should be allowed that Eisenstein was not the only montage theorist and the principles of montage editing would likely have been discovered by another given time. However, even today, few directors have approached the skill with which Eisenstein created meaning through the combination of images at such an early point in the evolution of the medium.

If you are not interested in that sort of thing, Potemkin is still one of the most beautiful and moving films ever made. You should see it, buy it, and tatoo it to your chest.