The 1925 film directed by Sergei Eisenstein "Battleship Potemkin": plot, history of creation, actors, reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

"Battleship Potemkin" is a 1925 film that has become a legend. What can you briefly tell about its plot? Firstly, the film takes place in June 1905. Secondly, its main characters are the crew members of the famous battleship Imperial Black Sea Fleet. Eisenstein divided the plot into five acts, each with its own title. The components of Eisenstein's film "Battleship Potemkin" will be discussed below.

Act I: Men and Worms

The scene begins with two sailors, Matyushenko and Vakulenchuk, discussing the need to support the Potemkin crew to carry out the revolution taking place in Russia. While the Potemkin is anchored off Tendra Island, idle sailors sleep in their berths. As the officer inspects the cabins, he stumbles and unleashes his aggression on the sleeping sailor. The noise causes Vakulenchuk to wake up and he makes a speechin front of the men when they come. Vakulenchuk says: “Comrades! The time has come for us to speak out too. Why wait? All Russia has risen! Should we be the last? The scene ends in the morning above the deck, where the sailors are indignant at the poor quality of the meat intended to feed the crew. The meat seems rotten and covered in worms, and the sailors say that even a dog won't eat it. From this domestic conflict, the plot of the film "Battleship Potemkin" begins to gain momentum.

Ship doctor Smirnov called by the captain to examine the meat. Regarding the presence of worms in food, the doctor says that they can be safely washed off before cooking. The sailors also complain about the poor quality of the ration, but the doctor declares the meat edible and ends the discussion. Senior officer Gilyarovsky forces the sailors, who are still looking at the rotten meat, to leave the kitchen, and the cook begins to prepare borscht, although once again he questions the quality of the products. The crew refuses to eat borscht, opting for bread, water, and canned food instead. While cleaning dishes, one of the sailors sees an inscription on a plate that reads: "Give us our daily bread today." After clarifying the meaning of this phrase, the sailor breaks the plate and the scene ends.

Act II: Uprising on the ship

All those who refuse meat are found guilty of insubordination and sentenced to be shot, after which they are allowed to pray. Sailors are required to kneel, and they are being prepared for execution right on deck. The first officer ordersthe beginning of the execution, but in response to his requests, the sailors in the firing squad lower their rifles and start an uprising. The sailors crush the numerical superiority of the officers and seize control of the ship. The officers are thrown overboard, the priest is dragged out of his hiding place from the rebellious crowd, and the doctor is sent into the ocean as food for worms. The rebellion can be considered successful despite the fact that the charismatic leader Vakulenchuk dies during the uprising.

Act III: Odessa Revolution

Battleship "Potemkin" arrives in Odessa. Vakulenchuk's body is taken ashore and declared a martyr for freedom. The Odessans, saddened but encouraged by Vakulenchuk's self-sacrifice, soon agreed that they all shared the dissatisfaction with the tsar and his government. A government-connected man tries to turn the civic rage against the Jews, but is quickly booed and beaten by the people. The sailors gather to commemorate Vakulenchuk and declare him a hero of the coming revolution. Odessans support the sailors, but their behavior attracts the attention of the police.

Act IV: Ladder Carnage

In this act, the most famous scene of the film takes place, taking place on the Potemkin Stairs (after which it got its name). Part of the inhabitants of Odessa goes on their ships and boats to the battleship to support the sailors and donate supplies. The other part of the residents gather at the Potemkin Stairs to support the rebels and repel the police attack.

Suddenly, a detachment of arrived Cossacks forms battle columns at the top of the steps and goes to the crowd of unarmed citizens, including women and children, and starts firing, monotonously descending along the stairs. From time to time the soldiers stop to fire another salvo into the crowd before continuing their cold, lifeless and surreal march. Meanwhile, the government cavalry charges at the fleeing crowd at the foot of the stairs, slaughtering many of those who survived the first attack. Short scenes show those fleeing from the attackers, as well as those killed and injured. The most famous of these scenes are the rolling carriage down the Potemkin Stairs, the shooting of a woman in the face that breaks her glasses, and the high boots of the soldiers moving in unison.

In retaliation, the sailors of the Potemkin decide to use the battleship's guns to shoot at the city's opera house, where the tsarist military leaders are calling a meeting. Meanwhile, there is news that an armada of warships has been sent to Odessa to put down the uprising on the battleship Potemkin.

Act V: moral victory

The sailors decide to take the battleship out of Odessa to face off against the tsar's fleet. At the moment when the battle seems inevitable, the sailors of the royal squadron refuse to open fire, cheering and shouting, expressing solidarity with the rebels and allowing the Potemkin, under a red flag, to pass between their ships. End.

How the legend was created

The story of the film "Battleship""Potemkin" is complex and remarkable in its own way. On the 20th anniversary of the first Russian revolution, the CEC commission decided to stage a series of performances dedicated to the events of 1905. In addition, as part of the celebration, a grandiose film was offered, shown as part of a special program with a sumptuous oratorical introduction, as well as musical and dramatic accompaniment. Nina Agadzhanova was asked to write the script, and the direction of the film was entrusted to 27-year-old Sergei Eisenstein. In the original script, the film was supposed to highlight a number of episodes not directly related to the 1905 revolution: the Russo-Japanese war, the Armenian genocide, the events in St. Petersburg, the uprising in Moscow. Filming was supposed to take place in a number of cities in the USSR. Eisenstein hired numerous non-professional actors for the film. He was looking for certain types of people instead of famous stars.

Script overhaul

The shooting of the film "Battleship Potemkin" began on March 31, 1925. The director started from Leningrad and managed to complete the episode with the strike on the railroad and Sadovaya Street. Filming was then temporarily h alted due to bad weather and fog. At the same time, the director was faced with tight deadlines: the film had to be completed by the end of the year, although the script was only approved on June 4th. Objectively assessing the situation, Sergei Eisenstein decided to abandon the original plan, which consisted of eight episodes, in order to focus on only one. It was an uprising on the battleship "Potemkin", which in a huge scenarioAgadzhanova took only a few pages (41 frames). Sergei Eisenstein, together with Grigory Alexandrov, significantly revised and expanded the episode.

Besides, in the process of making the film, some scenes were added that were not foreseen either by Agadzhanova's plan or Eisenstein's own sketches. Among them, in particular, was the episode with the storm, with which the film begins. As a result, the content of the tape was very far from Agadzhanova's original script. In 1925, after the film's negatives were sold to Germany and re-released by director Phil Yuqi, The Battleship Potemkin (1925) was released internationally in a version different from that originally planned. The tape was later censored, for example, the words of Leon Trotsky in the prologue were replaced with a quote from Lenin.

Artistic and cultural influences

Eisenstein originally conceived the film as revolutionary and propaganda, but also used it to test his theories regarding montage. Soviet cinematographers of the Kuleshov School of Filmmaking experimented with the effect of film editing on the audience, and Eisenstein tried to edit the tape in such a way as to evoke as much emotional response as possible. He wanted the viewer to feel sympathy for the rebellious sailors of the battleship and hatred for the tsarist regime. And he succeeded. Eisenstein's tape "Battleship Potemkin" was the first masspropaganda film in the history of cinema. And this was noticed by many people who happened to see the film.

"Battleship Potemkin": reviews and assessments of contemporaries

Eisenstein's cinematic experiment was a mixed success. The director was disappointed that the film failed to attract a wide audience, although it was well received overseas.

Both in the Soviet Union and abroad, the tape shocked the audience, but not so much with political overtones as with realistic depiction of violence, which was rare in films of that time. The potential of this masterpiece in terms of influencing political thought through an emotional response was noted by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, who called the tape amazing and unparalleled in cinema. He believed that anyone who did not have a strong political conviction could become a Bolshevik after seeing this picture. He was even interested in seeing the Germans make a similar film. Eisenstein did not like this idea, and he wrote an indignant letter to Goebbels, in which he declared that National Socialist Realism could not boast of either truth or realism. The film was not banned in Nazi Germany, although Himmler issued a directive forbidding members of the SS from attending screenings, as he considered the picture unsuitable for this type of troops. The film was eventually banned in the United States and France, and later in the native Soviet Union. Sergei Eisenstein's film "Battleship Potemkin" was banned in the UK for longer thanany other tape in the history of this country.

Modern viewers also evaluate the picture very positively, although only notorious moviegoers admire it.

Legendary stage

One of the most famous scenes in the film is the massacre of civilians on the Odessa Steps (now known as the Potemkin Stairs). The scene has been considered iconic and one of the most influential in film history. The rows of policemen monotonously marching up the steps are terrifying, as are their volleys at civilians. Among the victims of the tsarist police are an elderly woman in pince-nez, a young boy with his mother, a student in uniform, and a teenage schoolgirl. A mother pushing a baby in a pram falls to the ground, dying, and the pram rolls down the stairs amid the fleeing crowd.

Eisenstein's film "The Battleship Potemkin" was the bloodiest film of its time. The massacre on the steps, although it never happened in reality, had a real historical basis, like the whole film. In fact, in 1905, despite to mass demonstrations of citizens, there were no murders of Odessa citizens. Nevertheless, the scene turned out to be so powerful and influential that many people are still convinced that the execution on the Potemkin Stairs is a historical fact. The staircase got its name in honor of Eisenstein's film "Battleship "Potemkin".

Actors

The role of Vakulenchuk, the charming leader of the rebellious sailors, was played by Alexander Antonov, Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Other leading roles - commander Golikov and lieutenant Gilyarovsky - were played by VladimirBarsky and Grigory Alexandrov, respectively. However, non-professional actors were approved for the roles of most of the characters present in the film "Battleship Potemkin" (1905).