1. Soviet Montage, 1925-1933 Lecture 16

2. Sergei Eisenstein: “I N THE REALM OF ART THIS DIALECTIC PRINCIPLE OF DYNAMICS IS EMBODIED IN C ONFLICT AS THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF EVERY ART WORK AND EVERY ART - FORM.”

3. How does Eisenstein arrive at the idea of the centrality of CONFLICT to film?

4. Dialectics T HESIS 1 + A NTI -T HESIS 1 = S YNTHESIS 1 S YNTHESIS 1 (T HESIS 2) + A NTI - THESIS 2 = S YNTHESIS 2 … E ISENSTEIN : “Being—as a constant evolution from the interaction of two contradictory opposites.” (A Dialectical Approach 45)

5. October (Eisenstein, 1927) Five Acts Act 1 – 5 day February Revolution in St. Petersburg Alexander III statue brought down Act 2 – July days: street fighting between Anarchists and Left Bolsheviks and Provisional Government forces (Bridge sequence) – Kerensky in the Winter Palace – General Kornilov attacks – Kornilov’s soldiers switch to the Bolshevik side

6. October (Eisenstein, 1927) Five Acts Act 3 – Lenin argues for insurrection – Bolsheviks plan insurrection Act 4 – Bolsheviks prepare the insurrection – Kerensky leaves the Winter Palace – Women’s Battalion of Death defend the palace – Second Soviet Congress (Oct. 25) Act 5 – Bolsheviks prevail against Mensheviks at Second Soviet Congress – Red Guards take the Winter Palace

7. October (1927): Dialectics of narrative

8. Dialectics of Form: Eisenstein: “The shot and montage are the basic elements of cinema” “The shot appears as the cell of montage.” (organic metaphor) “So, montage is conflict.” THEN: There must be conflict in the shot as well.

9. Conflict within the shot 1) Shot (enframed image)— – Graphic conflict – Conflict of planes – Conflict of volume – Light conflict – Spatial conflict – Conflict between matter and viewpoint (ex: canted and other camera angles) – Conflict between matter and its spatial nature (ex: optical distortion) – Conflict between an event and its temporal nature (ex: slow motion, fast motion, stop-motion) – Conflict between optical complex and different sphere (ex: conflict between image and sound)

10. G RAPHIC CONFLICT WITHIN THE SHOT

11. C ONFLICT OF VOLUME, LIGHT, PLANES, SPACE

12. G RAPHIC C ONFLICT /L IGHT C ONFLICT

13. C ONFLICT OF VOLUMES