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 | War

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Port | Massacre | Red | Red Flag | Sailor

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
Andrei Fajt	...	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)
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)
• 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:

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) | 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

Filming Locations:

Alupka, Crimea, Ukraine

Company:

Goskino

Trivia:

Battleship "Dvenadtsat Apostolov" actually was in the Imperial squadron, sent against "Potemkin". "Potemkin" itself was newest and most powerful of Black Sea battleships, but Imperial forces were more numerous.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the firing squad scene, just before the mutiny, the ship's priest taps a crucifix upon his right hand, holding it in his left. As the shot cuts to a close-up of the cross, it instantly switches hands.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood: The Unchained Camera (#1.3)" (1995)

Light years ahead of its time

Eisenstein created the Russian Montage Theory, and this film is his finest example. It took years before someone could utilize his ideas and make them work (The Limey, 1999). Nonetheless, the baby carriage scene really demonstrates the discombobulated nature of RMT. Granted, like most movies, it gets long in some parts, the beauty of the film is amazing. One of the best silent films I have ever seen.