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 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
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
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 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
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 flag seen flying on the ship after the crew had mutinied was white, which is the color of the tsars, but this was done so that it could be hand-painted red on the celluloid, which is the color of communism. Since this is a black-and-white film, if the flag had been red it would have shown up black in the film. 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 »
Quotes
Grigory Vakulinchuk:
We, the sailors of 'Potemkin,' must support the workers, our brothers, and stand among the front lines of the revolution!
See more »
Alternate Versions
The video version released by Republic Pictures has a softened Odessa Steps sequence, without the child being trampled by the running crowd, and shots of the mother's silent cry and her right eye shot by a bullet through her eye-glasses. The DVD version released by Image Entertainment features the unedited sequence. See more »
Sergei Eisenstein's most famous movie has truly withstood the test of time. The story of a mutiny aboard a warship in 1905 does have the feeling of Soviet propaganda, but does a good job showing the conditions that led to the revolt. The scene on the Odessa steps should remain seared into anyone's mind.
Okay, so "The Battleship Potemkin" wasn't actually the first movie to use montage, but they did a great job with it here. Certainly any film history class should show this movie. It's a great historical drama (although I will admit that I don't know how accurate it is). A 10/10.
Oh, and we should have learned by now that "Potemkin" should be transliterated as "Potyomkin".
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Sergei Eisenstein's most famous movie has truly withstood the test of time. The story of a mutiny aboard a warship in 1905 does have the feeling of Soviet propaganda, but does a good job showing the conditions that led to the revolt. The scene on the Odessa steps should remain seared into anyone's mind.
Okay, so "The Battleship Potemkin" wasn't actually the first movie to use montage, but they did a great job with it here. Certainly any film history class should show this movie. It's a great historical drama (although I will admit that I don't know how accurate it is). A 10/10.
Oh, and we should have learned by now that "Potemkin" should be transliterated as "Potyomkin".