CONSENSUS #62 - Battleship Potemkin (1925)

SYNOPSIS: "Battleship Potemkin" is a Russian silent film about the crew of a battleship during the Revolution of 1905. The sailors revolt due to mistreatment while in the port of Odessa. The citizens of Odessa back the men, but the government forces are prepared to quell the rebellion.

BACK-STORY: “Battleship Potemkin” is a combination war movie / propaganda piece. It was meant to be one part of an eight part series on the Revolution of 1905. It turned out to be the only one in the series that ended up being made. It did not have the intended inspirational effect as it was not warmly embraced by the Russian people. It actually lost the box office to “Robin Hood” the opening week. It was a big hit outside Russia, however. The movie is justifiably famous and is considered Sergei Einstein’s masterpiece. It has been oft-copied by other directors. The film is divided into five parts: (1) “Men and Maggots” (2) “Drama on Deck” (3) “A Dead Man Calls for Justice” (4) “The Odessa Staircase” (5) “The Rendezvous with a Squadron”. Interestingly, the staircase scene was not planned as part of the movie and was added during production.

TRIVIA:  Wikipedia, imdb

1.  The movie was rushed to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the Revolution of 1905.

2.  Eisenstein used lots of non-professional actors.  He was more interested in “types” of persons.

3.  The original script called for several episodes, but due to time pressure, Eisenstein pared it down to basically the uprising on the battleship.

4.  The movie was banned in the United Kingdom longer than any other film in British history.  It was not screened until 1954.

5.  There was no massacre on the Odessa Steps, but troops did shoot into crowds in Odessa.

6.  It was Charlie Chaplin’s favorite movie.

7.  Brian DePalma reenacted the Odessa Steps Massacre scene in his movie “The Untouchables”.

8.  Eisenstein used a battleship that had been beached to mark a sand bank.  This is why you do not see the movie ship from a distance.

Belle and Blade  =  N/A

Brassey’s              =  5.0

Video Hound       =  4.4

War Movies         =  N/A 

Military History  =  #47

Channel 4             =  no

Film Site                =  yes

101 War Movies  =  no

Rotten Tomatoes  =  no

OPINION: Once again we have a movie that is obviously one of the “greatest” war movies, but not necessarily one of the “best”. It is interesting and does a good job covering an important historical event. It is very influential and is still studied. This influence has been basically on films in general, not particularly on war movies, however.  It is a classic that holds up well. You do not have to be a film historian to recognize the brilliance of Einstein’s direction. His innovations of montages and cross-cutting are apparent in their importance to the evolution of movie-making. The staircase scene alone is worth the price of admission.  Since this is a list of the “greatest” war movies, I would say it is appropriately ranked at #62.