Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein

Eisenstein: early biography Born in Riga, Latvia, into the family of a prominent architect and engineer Father Jewish, mother Russian Graduated from the Institute of Civil Engineering in Saint Petersburg In 1920, joined the Proletkult (“proletarian culture”) Central Workers’ Theatre in Moscow Studied in the School for Stage Direction under Vsevolod Meyerhold in early 1920s

Eisenstein Filmography Strike 1923 Battleship Potemkin (1925) October (Ten Days that Shook the World) 1928 The General Line (The Old and the New) 1929 Que viva Mexico! (unfinished – abandoned 1932) Bezhin Meadow (1935 – undistributed, destroyed) Alexander Nevsky 1938 Ivan the Terrible Pt. I 1944 Ivan the Terrible Pt II (finished 1946, released only in 1958)

Key Concepts in 1920s films, esp. Eisenstein new cinematic language rejecting “literature” (narrative) and “theatre” (psychological realism of stage) montage of attractions: collision (juxtaposing) of visual images to create a third meaning : (A + B = C) typage: rejection of actors, preference for facial “types”

Eisenstein and the Theatre Worked under Vsevolod Meyerhold ( ) antirealist theatre theatre of the grotesque clowning, acrobatics abstract, “constructivist” sets

Eisenstein’s essay “Montage of Attractions” (1923) “Montage of attractions”: cinema compared to theatre and circus Tr.: “sequence of tricks” first experiment in film: grotesque intermezzo inserted in play

The Real versus Realism Avant-garde film rejected the “psychological realism” of Stanislavskian theatre. Eisenstein: “The Moscow Art Theatre is my deadly enemy. They string their emotions together to give a continuous illusion of reality. I take photographs of reality and then cut them up to produce emotions… I am not a realist, I am a materialist. I believe that material things, that matter gives us the basis of all our sensations. I get away from realism by going to reality.”

Commedia dell’arte and the Grotesque Jacques Callot ( ): French artist, engravings of Italian actors Masks: Pantalone, Petrushka, dottore Serious characters (innamorati): lovers joined at end of comedy, become heroic revolutionaries For Russian theatre/film: source of grotesque – deformation of the human form, and expressive facial expression as mask

Film Strike (1923) as a commedia dell'arte First feature film, about workers’ strikes before the revolution Serious heroes: revolutionaries Dark comedy, the revolutionaries are suppressed. Masks: factory managers, spies…

October (1927) by Sergei Eisenstein First non-documentary featuring Lenin

Sergei Eisenstein’s October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1927) Based on book by John Reid Made to commemorate 10th anniversary of Bolshevik seizure of Power Historical inaccurate: the myth, not the literal truth Political message conveyed visually Film technique: editing The narrative...what the story trying to tell?

October: the events Hardships of war February 1917 crisis 15 March 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicates Confrontation between Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet (Workers' Council) April 1917 Vladimir Lenin returns via the Finland Station July Demonstrations broken up, Lenin goes into hiding October (7 November) 1917 Storming of the Winter Palace in Petrograd and removal of Provisional Government

“Typage” as development of Mask in October (1927) Typage (use of types): “Lenin” is played by a worker who looked similar. No acting: simple gestures. Lenin arrives at Finland Station

Montage Radical intercutting of unrelated shots to create emotional shock or intellectual impact. Developed from “Kuleshov effect” Early “shock” montage from Strike: The killing of the workers and end of the strike.The killing of the workers and end of the strike

“Intellectual” montage Montage of two shots to create comparison or metaphor: A + B = C Intellectual Montage in October “God and country” inGod and country Montage of recognizable figures - anti- Communist leaders Kornilov and Kerensky - with dolls, e.g. Napoleon

October Sound through montage Sound through montage the suppression of the workers’ July demonstration

Eisenstein's October Historically inaccurate: the myth, not the literal truth Political message conveyed visually Film technique: editing Use of types: “Lenin” is a worker who looked similar. No acting: simple gestures Montage of faces, e.g. Kerensky, with dolls, e.g. Napoleon

“Moving masses” in October

October Sound through montage - the suppression of the workers’ July demonstration