Soviet Montage Movement 1917-1933 COM 320—History of Film Soviet Montage Movement 1917-1933

Defining Characteristics “Montage. . . as a collision of elements. . . Imitated the Marxist concept of the dialectic. . . ‘intellectual cinema’ attempts not to tell a story but to convey abstract ideas, as a political tract might”

Form & Style: Editing Most Important Narrative structure—social forces

Form & Style: Editing Most Important Large number of shots

Form & Style: Editing Most Important “Kuleshov effect” of juxtaposed shots (MORE later in Editing PPT)

Form & Style: Editing Most Important Maximization of dynamic tension through two opposing editing techniques (MORE later in Editing PPT) (1) overlapping editing (2) elliptical (i.e., jump cut) editing

Form & Style: Editing Most Important Non-diegetic inserts (MORE later in Editing PPT) e.g., Slaughterhouse footage near end of Strike

Background In a commercial film context Artistically, derived from Constructivism, viewing artwork as machine; montage; no elite art However, commercial success was secondary to serving the national interest; a national cinema The development of a national cinema—the State Film School in 1919, under the control of the Narkompros (People’s Commissariat of Education)

See Handout--Flowchart of Soviet Montage Influences

Other Film Types in that Nation at that Time Very few domestic alternatives Surprising importance of imports (e.g., Thief of Bagdad ran for years)

Importance of Movement Although Battleship Potemkim was seen around the world, its main impact was later, and certainly limited to style/technique—the content was not widely imitated.

Important Practitioners Lev Kuleshov (1899-1970) & his workshop

Important Practitioners Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) (Battleship Potemkin, Strike)

Important Practitioners Vsevolod Pudovkin (1893-1953) (Mother)

Important Practitioners Dziga Vertov (1896-1954) (The Man with the Movie Camera)

Important Practitioners Lev Kuleshov & his workshop Sergei Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin, Strike) Vsevolod Pudovkin (Mother) Dziga Vertov (The Man with the Movie Camera) Note that Kuleshov, Eisenstein, and Vertov were all film writers and teachers (i.e., scholars) as well as filmmakers.

The Death of the Movement Soviet Montage called “formalism,” too complex for the mass (Joseph Stalin said…) 1929 five-year plan called for centralization of film, control taken away from the Narkompros (Stalin again)

Current Influences and Applications? Editing!! See LATER handout and PPT on Origins of Editing Styles and Techniques

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