34. October (1927)

Directed By Sergei Eisenstein

Synopsis

Goverment made up from bourgeois bad men. The masses dislike bourgeoisie. Masses topple fat capitalists. Mother Russia belongs to the unwashed proletariat. Lenin makes cartwheels in St. Petersburg's main square. Yiipeeee!

Review

Eisenstein was a genius. There is no argument here, he could make a montage like no one else, and he was the director most able to put across abstract ideas just through the art of editing with no need for sound or colour. A good example, in fact an excellent example of this is the "For God and Country" scene, where particularly the representation of god is not only complex but also immensely amusing. If I didn't know that acid was a later invention I'd say he was on it.

Now for the downside. Eisenstein had no idea of how to tell a compelling story, he didn't have it in Strike! or in Potemkin and he certainly is lacking it in October. If you are expecting to learn anything from this film forget it. You would benefit greatly from having a good idea of the process of the October 1917 revolution or else you will be completely lost in this crazy, sprawling film.

Still I have to worship at Eisenstein's feet because he is such a good technical director. The rapid cutting from the nozzle of the machine gun to the face of the soldier firing it is an amazing idea to mimic the sound and speed of a machine gun shooting, but don't watch it if you have a headache. The film is unfortunately overly long, it loses itself by being in love with itself, it is too overindulgent, while being nothing more spectacular than a crass propaganda film at heart. A very well directed Reefer Madness. Buy it at Amazon UK or US

Final Grade

6/10

Trivia

From Wiki:

Eisenstein used the film to further develop his theories of film structure, using a concept he described as "intellectual montage", the editing together of shots of apparently unconnected objects in order to create encourage intellectual comparisons between them. One of the film's most celebrated examples of this technique is a baroque image of Jesus that is compared, through a series of shots, to Hindu deities, the Buddha, Aztec gods, and finally a primitive idol in order to suggest the sameness of all religions; the idol is then compared with military regalia to suggest the linking of patriotism and religious fervour by the state. In another sequence Alexander Kerensky, head of the pre-revolutionary Provisional Government, is compared to a preening mechanical peacock.

Weird fuckhead.