A staple of any film school syllabus, Battleship Potemkin is a Soviet silent film released in 1925 and directed by Sergei Eisenstein. This film is lauded for it’s contributions to cinema most notably the invention of the montage.
Synopsis
The film is set in 1905 in the midst of the Russian Revolution. The crew of the Battleship Potemkin-part of the Russian Imperial navy-begin a mutiny against their commanding officers lead by a charismatic leader named Vakulinchuk. The sailors manage to take over the ship but Vakulinchuk is killed. The ship arrives at the port at Odessa where the people there are moved by Vakulinchuk’s sacrifice and decide to join the revolution. The citizenry of Odessa gather at the steps overlooking the port to show solidarity for the sailors of the Potemkin. Imperial solders descend on the rebels and being firing killing men women and children indiscriminately. In response to the massacre on the steps the Potemkin fires on the city Opera house. The next morning the Tsar’s fleet arrives at the port but the sailors on the warships cheer instead of firing showing their support of their brothers on the Potemkin.
Let’s Talk about Those Stairs
Battleship Potemkin has one of the most famous sequences in all of film history. When the Imperial soilders are coming down the Odessa steps killing citizens left and right I woman is shot and lets go of her baby’s stroller. The stroller teeters on the steps for a moment before rolling down the steps. As the stroller speeds down the stairs it’s surrounded by the bloody bodies that litter the steps. The stroller reaches the bottom and the baby dies. This has come to be known as the “Odessa Steps Sequence” or the “Potemkin Stairs”. This may be the most copied scene in all of cinema history. Even if you have never seen or heard of Battleship Potemkin it is more than likely that you have seen one of the iterations of the Odessa Stairs.
Film scholars have written volumes about the Odessa Stairs sequence and Eisenstein’s use of montage. If you want an in depth and technical analysis of this film go search out any of those. I can only speak to my experience watching this film. This film is very different than modern day films or even some of the films I’ve watched recently from the 1950s but that’s to be expected since this film is nearly a century old. That said I was taken aback by how familiar the editing style of this film felt. Eisenstein’s invention of montage was truly a monumental shift in movie making. If you pay close attention you’ll realize how often montage is used not just in movies but in TV shows, commercials, music videos, and really any form of visual entertainment.
Should You Watch this Movie?
There is no doubt that Battleship Potemkin is an important film. It paved the way for the great films that would build upon what it started but does that mean that you need to watch it? If you want to be a film scholar or write about film in an academic fashion than the answer is a resounding yes. This movie is a key piece of film history and is rightfully praised for its significance. But for the casual movie goer that just watches films to be entertained I don’t know if Battleship Potemkin is necessarily a must watch. The film is interesting as a historical document but as a narrative it’s quite limited even compared to other silent movies of it’s day. The acting is nearly non-existent as the most important sequences involve large groups rather than individuals. I think if you want to learn about film history and maybe see where some of your favorite directors got their inspiration from I would give this a watch, it’s free on YouTube. But if you just want to watch and entertaining movie and you don’t have much of an interest in film history you can probably pass on Battleship Potemkin.
