Battleship Potemkin : A cinematic milestone

Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent epic “The Battleship Potemkin” is a cinematic milestone in more ways than one. Not only was it one of the most influential propaganda films of all time, but also it was revolutionary in the form of a new editing technique called montage, that was developed by Eisenstein.

Now, the question arises that how is it cinematic?

Now, the question arises that how is it cinematic?

LARGER THAN LIFE : First of all, this film best exemplifies the notion of cinema being “larger than life”. Battleship Potemkin has taken the historical element of the Russian Revolution and added extravagant settings, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle and a sweeping musical score. The proceedings involving the sailors on board of the ship, and how they revolt against their own captains are put on screen in an episodic manner, presented in the context of the Bolshevik rebellion of that era. The portrayal of history through epic storytelling is compellingly illustrated through this film. This grand treatment makes it CINEMATIC in the true sense. This is the power that cinema has.

VISUALLY BEAUTIFUL: Acknowledging the time and era in which the film was made, nothing can doubt the fact that it’s a visually beautiful epic with grand sweep and stirring images. From a dramatic perspective, the movie leaves us with disturbing images such as the blinded mother, a baby in a carriage falling down the steps, the rotten meat. All of this has an impact which cinema provides robustly.

PROPAGANDA : Battleship Potemkin, in its time, was an effective propaganda film. As we all know, the most remarkable sequence in the film is the massacre of civilians at the Odessa Steps. This massacre never really took place. Eisenstein inserted it for dramatic effect to demonize the imperial Russian regime at that time. As Roger Ebert, the famous critic and screenwriter states “That there was, in fact, no czarist massacre at the Odessa steps scarcely diminishes the power of the scene. Its ironic that Eisenstein did it so well that today, the bloodshed on the Odessa steps is often referred to as if really happened.” This is a testimony to the powerful impact of cinema, & therefore a testimony to how cinematic this epic is.

CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT : Cinema is a reflection of culture and inversely affects culture as well. Same goes with Battleship Potemkin. The film is culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant and reflected not only a part of Russian struggle, but affected it in a way that a major segment of the audience beyond Russia was educated through it. The cinematic scope of Battleship Potemkin can be gauged through the thematic influence it had over film viewers all across the globe, from 1920’s till now.

TECHNICALLY GROUNDBREAKING – The Battleship Potemkin is one of the rare propaganda films that has strong artistic merits as well. It’s well known for Eisenstein’s approach of creating a cinematic milestone through the pioneering concept of MONTAGE. It’s a style of editing that offers discontinuity in graphic quality, violations of the 180’s degree rule, and the creation of impossible spatial matches. The changes between shots are obvious, yet less fluid. The principles of montage editing basically stress on combining separate images to produce an idea. Battleship Potemkin proved to be the start of this path-breaking technique, which had all stamps of a massive cinematic impact. It was best demonstrated through the Odessa Step sequence and has since been used by various filmmakers at critical junctures of their films. Editing as a cinematic component, thus, proved to be extremely effective to stimulate the audiences, and henceforth best exemplifies the cinematic quality of movies.

ENTERTAINMENT : At the end of the day, cinema exists to provide Entertainment as well. The Battleship Potemkin more than succeeded in providing entertainment, as the viewer doesn’t lose interest in the film even for a second. This is master storytelling, accentuated by powerful imagery. It entertains cinematically, and hence imbibes the quality cinema is most celebrated for.