Battleship Potemkin (1925)

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.

Director:

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

Writer:

Nina Agadzhanova (script by) (as N. F. Agadzhanovoy-Shutko)

Stars:

Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barskiy, Grigoriy Aleksandrov

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Aleksandr Antonov	...	Grigory Vakulinchuk
Vladimir Barskiy	...	Commander Golikov
Grigoriy 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
Prokhorenko	...	Mother Carrying Wounded Boy
A. Glauberman	...	Wounded Boy
Beatrice Vitoldi	...	Woman With Baby Carriage
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Daniil Antonovich	...	Sailor
Iona Biy-Brodskiy	...	Student (as Brodsky)
Julia Eisenstein	...	Woman with Food for Sailors
Sergei M. Eisenstein	...	Odessa Citizen

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1905 | russian revolution | russian navy | social discontent | unrest | 

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Taglines:

The Sensational Russian Film which is astounding all Europe

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The actual battleship Potemkin was laid down in the Nikolaev, Ukraine, shipyard in 1898, launched in 1900 and commissioned in 1903. After sailing unharmed through the Tzarist Black Sea Fleet as depicted in the movie, it sailed to Constanta, Romania, where many of the mutinous crew remained. The Romanian government returned the Potemkin to Russia soon after.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Grigory Vakulinchuk: To the rifles, brothers! Smash the dragons! Smash 'em! Smash 'em all!

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Alternate Versions

Pankreutzer Potemkine, the Kino International restoration of Battleship Potemkin, overseen by Enno Patalas and Anna Bohn with support from film museums in Berlin, London, and Moscow, premiered at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. This version was released on DVD in 2009 and Blu-ray in 2010, and theatrically in New York City and in the film archives' circuit in the USA and Canada.

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Connections

Featured in Sarah Brightman: Diva - The Video Collection (2006)

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

None Russian

Release Date:

24 December 1925 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

Battleship Potemkin

Filming Locations:

Crimea, Ukraine

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,641, 16 January 2011

Gross USA:

$51,198

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$61,389

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goskino, Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min 68 min (DVD) 72 min (Blu-ray)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.25 : 1