FILMING OF OUTDOOR events on a truly grand scale is the hallmark of this film. It is obvious that there was near unlimited budget and an autocratic and absolute control exerted by the director, Comrade Sergei Eisenstein. The filming is done in such a carefully plotted manner as to appear to be an actual newsreel documentary.

THE STORY IS a retelling of a 1905 incident of rebellion and mutiny against the hierarchy of the Imperial Czarist Russian Navy. It builds its tension with use of varying camera angles, liberal doses of editing, imaginative & original lighting and boldly placed bits of shocking realism.

THE FILM IS very powerful and will hold just about anyone's interest for the duration of its time on the screen. We do recommend that anyone and everyone can and should see it at least once, But we do do with just one caveat to all.

THAT PRECAUTIONARY WARNING would be that we all must remember that the movie is and was intended as a propaganda piece for the likes of Joe Stalin and his comrades the USSR. Director Eisenstein definitely knew of what side his bread was buttered as he carefully crafted the telling of this 1905 incident on the Black Sea as an allegorical work. In his capable hands & clapboard, the whole situation and all of the incidents surrounding it were reduced to metaphor for the Russian Revolution and the ascent of the Communist Party.

DURING THE PROCESS of telling this story, the director actually manages to make a case for the dignity of man. Now that is just bizarre and ironic; when one considers the track record of the Kremlin masters. The Communist Party has always called itself: "The Vanguard of the People", no matter how many of their own people that they had to kill to prove it.

Battleship Potemkin is a celluloid masterpiece. The direction of

Eisenstein is truly a sight. The film chronicles a ship of disgruntled

sailors who are tired of being mistreated by their superior officers.

Eventually, the sailors finally have enough of the abuse and send the

officers packing. During this time period, there was a shortage of film

stock in the Soviet Union. The goverment wanted to get their message

out to the people so they started a National Film Company and one of

the members was Sergei Eisenstein. The films were shot on miniscule

budgets and the shortage of film stock forced Eisentein to be careful

and selective with the footage that he shot. In the end, Eisenstein had

to reuse footage in order to make a feature length picture.

The most famous of the action set pieces in this film is the much

talked about massacre on the steps. This scene was spoofed in Bananas

and most recently in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables. If you want to

learn film-making, I strongly advise you to watch Battleship Potemkin.

It's one of the essentials.

A+

At the onset, it must be understood that this film was a propaganda piece that was made with the backing of the new Soviet government. I doubt that director Eisenstein had a lot of control over the product as it had to conform to what the government demanded,...or else! And, as far as producing a propaganda film to commemorate the abortive 1905 Revolution goes, he did an exceptional job! So good that it took years for Stalin to get around to persecuting the director and purging several of his later films (now THAT'S gratitude "Stalin-style").

The film is a pretty simple movie that concerns a real-life rebellion on the Russian naval ship POTEMKIN as well as an uprising in Odessa by the masses. And, from what I was able to learn, the story was probably relatively faithful to the events though they were of course dramatized a bit here and there. Despite the movie making it appear that all the officers on board were killed, the crew killed several but others were allowed to live. Also, the incredibly sensationalistic and evil character of the insane-looking priest on board the ship was just a very clumsy attempt by the Soviets to ridicule their enemy--organized religion. But, the crew really DID rebel, the citizens of the city really were massacred by the army and the Potemkin did actually escape unscathed because the other ships refused to fire on her. Unfortunately, what happened next was never covered in the film and I wish it had been. While it made it look as if perhaps the other ships joined Potemkin in rebellion, this wasn't the case. Instead, the ship defected to Romania and most of the crew either stayed there or returned after the 1917 revolution--the few that returned sooner were prosecuted.

If you ignore some inconsistencies and over-the-top priest character, the rest of the film is brilliant, moving and was a very effective piece. Compared to other Hollywood productions, the camera-work was amazing--with crane shots, cameras that seamlessly moved with the action and terrific dramatic scenes that made you almost wish you, too, were a Communist.

I noticed that there were quite a few negative reviews and those who felt the film was overrated. While I do agree its reputation is greatly overrated, I can't agree with scores of 1, 2 or 3 stars, as technically the film is well-made and effective compared to other films of the day. Don't let the film's political bias make you dismiss it unfairly, but also do not accept the film as Gospel (that's an interesting choice of words considering the Atheist Soviet government, eh?).