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IMDbPro

Battleship Potemkin

Original title: Bronenosets Potemkin
  • 19251925
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 6m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
57K
YOUR RATING
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resulting street demonstration which brought on a police massacre.
Play trailer1:33
1 Video
99+ Photos
  • Drama
  • History
  • Thriller
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 ... Read allIn 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 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.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
57K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Sergei Eisenstein
  • Writers
    • Nina Agadzhanova(script by)
    • Sergei Eisenstein(re-writes)
    • Grigoriy Aleksandrov(re-writes)
  • Stars
    • Aleksandr Antonov
    • Vladimir Barskiy
    • Grigoriy Aleksandrov
Top credits
  • Director
    • Sergei Eisenstein
  • Writers
    • Nina Agadzhanova(script by)
    • Sergei Eisenstein(re-writes)
    • Grigoriy Aleksandrov(re-writes)
  • Stars
    • Aleksandr Antonov
    • Vladimir Barskiy
    • Grigoriy Aleksandrov
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 232User reviews
    • 98Critic reviews
    • 97Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win

    Videos1

    Battleship Potemkin
    Trailer 1:33
    Battleship Potemkin

    Photos157

    Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    A. Glauberman and Prokhorenko in Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Nina Poltavtseva in Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Aleksandr Antonov in Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Battleship Potemkin (1925)
    Alexander Rodchenko in Battleship Potemkin (1925)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Aleksandr Antonov
    Aleksandr Antonov
    • Grigory Vakulinchuk
    Vladimir Barskiy
    Vladimir Barskiy
    • Commander Golikov
    Grigoriy Aleksandrov
    Grigoriy Aleksandrov
    • Chief Officer Giliarovsky
    Ivan Bobrov
    Ivan Bobrov
    • Young Sailor Flogged While Sleeping
    • (as I. Bobrov)
    Mikhail Gomorov
    • Militant Sailor
    Aleksandr Levshin
    • Petty Officer
    Nina Poltavtseva
    Nina Poltavtseva
    • Woman With Pince-nez
    • (as N. Poltavtseva)
    Konstantin Feldman
    • Student Agitator
    Prokhorenko
    Prokhorenko
    • Mother Carrying Wounded Boy
    A. Glauberman
    A. Glauberman
    • Wounded Boy
    Beatrice Vitoldi
    Beatrice Vitoldi
    • Woman With Baby Carriage
    Daniil Antonovich
    • Sailor
    Iona Biy-Brodskiy
    • Student
    • (as Brodsky)
    Julia Eisenstein
    • Woman with Food for Sailors
    Sergei Eisenstein
    Sergei Eisenstein
    • Odessa Citizen
    • (as Sergei M. Eisenstein)
    Andrey Fayt
    Andrey Fayt
    • Recruit
    • (as A. Fait)
    Korobey
    • Legless Veteran
    Marusov
    • Officer
    • Director
      • Sergei Eisenstein
    • Writers
      • Nina Agadzhanova(script by)
      • Sergei Eisenstein(re-writes) (uncredited)
      • Grigoriy Aleksandrov(re-writes) (uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The flag seen flying on the ship after the crew had mutinied is white, which is the color of the tsars, but this was done so that it could be hand-painted red (the color of communism) on the celluloid. Since this is a black-and-white film, if the flag had been red it would have shown as black in the film. The flag was hand-tinted red for 108 frames by director Sergei Eisenstein for the film's premier.
    • Goofs
      In the Imperial squadron near the end of the film, there are close-ups of triple gun turrets of Gangut-class dreadnought. It possibly was made this way to show the power of Imperial fleet, but battleships of 1905 were much smaller pre-dreadnoughts, with twin turrets only, just like "Potemkin". "Ganguts" entered service in 1914.
    • Quotes

      Sailor: Shoulder to shoulder. The land is ours. Tomorrow is ours.

    • Alternate versions
      Sergei Eisenstein's premiere version opened with an unattributed quote from Leon Trotsky's "1905": The spirit of mutiny swept the land. A tremendous, mysterious process was taking place in countless hearts: the individual personality became dissolved in the mass, and the mass itself became dissolved in the revolutionary impetus. This quote was removed by Soviet censors in 1934, and replaced by a quotation from V.I. Lenin's "Revolutionary Days": Revolution is war. Of all the wars known in history, it is the only lawful, rightful, just and truly great war...In Russia this war has been declared and won. The original text was restored in 2004.
    • Connections
      Edited into Seeds of Freedom (1943)

    User reviews232

    Review
    Top review
    A gripping story told with style and passion as well as a 'must see' piece of cinema history
    With workers striking in Russia, the crew of the battleship Potemkin feel a certain kinship for the plight of their brothers. When they are served rotting, maggot infested meat some of the crew object, only to find themselves singled out and placed in front of a firing squad. With the marines seconds away from firing the deadly shots, ordinary seaman Grigory Vakulinchuk steps into the breach and intervenes to save the men by appealing to the firing squad to ignore their orders. When the officers take their revenge and kill Vakulinchuk, all are bonded together in the struggle; a bond that reaches to the city of Odessa where the rebellion grows, leading to a bloody and historic series of events.

    It is hard to imagine that anybody who has seen quite a few films in the past few decades would be unaware of this film, but it is perhaps understandable that fewer have had the opportunity to actually sit down and watch. I had never seen this film before but had seen countless references to it in other films and therefore considering it an important film to at least see once. The story is based on real events and this only serves to make it more interesting but even without this context it is still an engaging story. The story doesn't have much in the way of characters but it still brings out the brutality and injustice of events and it is in this that it hooked me – surprisingly violent (implied more than modern gore) it demonising the actions and shows innocents falling at all sides in key scenes. The version I saw apparently had the original score (I'm not being snobby – modern rescores could be better for all I know) and I felt it worked very well to match and improve the film's mood; dramatic, gentle or exciting, it all works very well.

    The feel of the film was a surprise to me because it stood up very well viewed with my modern eyes. At one or two points the model work was very clearly model work but mostly the film is technically impressive. The masses of extras, use of ships and cities and just the way it captures such well organised chaos are all very impressive and would be even done today. What is more impressive with time though is how the film has a very strong and very clean style to it – it is not as gritty and flat as many silent films of the period that I have seen; instead it is very crisp and feels very, very professional. Of course watching it in 2004 gives me the benefit of hindsight where I can look back over many films that have referenced the images or directors who have mentioned the film in interviews; but even without this 20:20 vision it is still possible to see how well done the film is and to note how memorable much of it is – the steps and the firing squad scenes are two very impressive moments that are very memorable. The only real thing that might bug modern audiences is the acting; it isn't bad but silent acting is very different from acting with sound. Here the actors all over act and rely on their bodies to do much of their delivery – word cards just don't do the emotional job so they have to make extra effort to deliver this.

    Overall this is a classic film that has influenced many modern directors. The story is engaging and well worth hearing; the directing is crisp and professional, producing many scenes that linger in the memory; the music works to deliver the emotional edge that modern audiences would normally rely on acting and dialogue to deliver and the whole film is over all too quickly! An essential piece of cinema for those that claim to love the media but also a cracking good film in its own right.
    helpful•110
    20
    • bob the moo
    • Sep 19, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 24, 1925 (Soviet Union)
    • Country of origin
      • Soviet Union
    • Languages
      • Russian
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Potemkin
    • Filming locations
      • Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine
    • Production company
      • Mosfilm
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $51,198
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $5,641
      • Jan 16, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $61,389
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 6 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.25 : 1

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