In the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.
In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
Director:
Carl Theodor Dreyer
Stars:
Maria Falconetti,
Eugene Silvain,
André Berley
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Director:
Fritz Lang
Stars:
Brigitte Helm,
Alfred Abel,
Gustav Fröhlich
During the early part of his reign, Ivan the Terrible faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people.
Director:
Sergei M. Eisenstein
Stars:
Nikolay Cherkasov,
Lyudmila Tselikovskaya,
Serafima Birman
In documentary style, events in Petrograd are re-enacted from the end of the monarchy in February of 1917 to the end of the provisional government and the decrees of peace and of land in ... See full summary »
Directors:
Grigoriy Aleksandrov,
Sergei M. Eisenstein
Stars:
Boris Livanov,
Nikolay Popov,
Vasili Nikandrov
Based on the historical events the movie tells the story of a riot at the battleship Potemkin. What started as a protest strike when the crew was given rotten meat for dinner ended in a riot. The sailors raised the red flag and tried to ignite the revolution in their home port Odessa.Written by
Konstantin Dlutskii <ked@falcon.cc.ukans.edu>
The film was chosen by Premiere magazine as one of the "100 Movies That Shook the World" in the October 1998 issue. The list ranked the most "daring movies ever made." See more »
Goofs
In the Imperial squadron near the end of the film, we see close-ups of triple gun turrets of Gangut-class dreadnought. It is possibly made this way to show the power of Imperial fleet, but this is an anachronism, for battleships of 1905 were much smaller pre-dreadnoughts, with twin turrets only, just like "Potemkin". "Ganguts" entered service in 1914. See more »
The 29 April 1926 version, at the Apollo Theater, Berlin, under the auspices of Prometheus Films, was heavily censored under pressure from the Weimar authorities. Nearly a hundred feet of footage was cut (the equivalent of more than 50 shots) as well as a number of title cards. This version became the basis for the copies that traveled to the United States and England, where they were further censored. The Prometheus negative was returned from Germany to the USSR after the Second World War, and became the source for official export prints from 1949 on. See more »
I'm never one to turn a film down, unless it's got Ben Affleck in it, then i'm always hesitant. But alas, i recently received an invite to a 1925 silent Russian film named Battle Potemkin, and once it was confirmed Ben Affleck was not in this film, i was good to go. Showing at London's Southbank, i was excited to see a silent film in the cinema, something i've never done before, and also excited to see a film called by many critics as one of the great films of the 20th century.
The film is a bit of revolutionary propaganda, dealing with the plight of a rebellious set of sailors, and from the minute it begins it is clear that these sailors are the heroes of the film. What follows is five brief episodes (the films is only 70 minutes long) which charts the mutiny led by the sailors against their heinous officers. Soon enough the whole of the City (Odessa for those keeping count) revolts and in a magnificent piece of film-making (especially considering this was made 86 years ago) there is a stampede which is brutally captured and wouldn't look out of a place in a low-budget film made today. The finale of the film is a triumph and strangely uplifiting, who woulda guessed a Russian mutiny would evoke such emotion??!
This film is a great way to introduce somebody to silent films, it is relatively short and moves at a great speed. One thing i loved about the lack of dialogue was the focus instead on the visual aspects of the film, as an audience member you also have more space to look at facial expressions and mannerisms without being held back by subtitles, and this is where the attachment to the film really comes alive. I would give this film an 8/10, it's different, and has certainly got me interested in silent films, now, where's that Charlie Chaplin DVD?
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I'm never one to turn a film down, unless it's got Ben Affleck in it, then i'm always hesitant. But alas, i recently received an invite to a 1925 silent Russian film named Battle Potemkin, and once it was confirmed Ben Affleck was not in this film, i was good to go. Showing at London's Southbank, i was excited to see a silent film in the cinema, something i've never done before, and also excited to see a film called by many critics as one of the great films of the 20th century.
The film is a bit of revolutionary propaganda, dealing with the plight of a rebellious set of sailors, and from the minute it begins it is clear that these sailors are the heroes of the film. What follows is five brief episodes (the films is only 70 minutes long) which charts the mutiny led by the sailors against their heinous officers. Soon enough the whole of the City (Odessa for those keeping count) revolts and in a magnificent piece of film-making (especially considering this was made 86 years ago) there is a stampede which is brutally captured and wouldn't look out of a place in a low-budget film made today. The finale of the film is a triumph and strangely uplifiting, who woulda guessed a Russian mutiny would evoke such emotion??!
This film is a great way to introduce somebody to silent films, it is relatively short and moves at a great speed. One thing i loved about the lack of dialogue was the focus instead on the visual aspects of the film, as an audience member you also have more space to look at facial expressions and mannerisms without being held back by subtitles, and this is where the attachment to the film really comes alive. I would give this film an 8/10, it's different, and has certainly got me interested in silent films, now, where's that Charlie Chaplin DVD?