Bronenosets Potyomkin (1925)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Sergei M. Eisenstein

Writer:

Nina Agadzhanova (script)

Release Date:

12 November 1926 (France)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resulting street demonstration which brought on a police massacre.

Plot Keywords:

Sailor | Battleship | Meat | Revolution | Steps

Cast

Aleksandr Antonov	...	Grigory Vakulinchuk - Bolshevik Sailor
Vladimir Barsky	...	Commander Golikov
Grigori Aleksandrov	...	Chief Officer Giliarovsky
Ivan Bobrov	...	Young Sailor Flogged While Sleeping (as I. Bobrov)
Mikhail Gomorov	...	Militant Sailor
Aleksandr Levshin	...	Petty Officer
N. Poltavseva	...	Woman With Pince-nez
Konstantin Feldman	...	Student Agitator
Prokopenko	...	Mother Carrying Wounded Boy
A. Glauberman	...	Wounded Boy
Beatrice Vitoldi	...	Woman With Baby Carriage
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brodsky	...	Student
Julia Eisenstein	...	Woman with Food for Sailors
Sergei M. Eisenstein	...	Odessa Citizen
Andrei Fajt	...	Recruit (as A. Fait)
Korobei	...	Legless Veteran
Marusov	...	Officer
Protopopov	...	Old Man
Repnikova	...	Woman on the Steps
Vladimir Uralsky
Zerenin	...	Student

Also Known As:

Battleship Potemkin (UK) (USA)
Броненосец Потёмкин (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Bronomzidi Potiomkini (Soviet Union: Georgian title)
Potemkin (USA)
The Armored Cruiser Potemkin (USA)
The Battleship Potemkin (USA)
The Battleship Potyomkin (USA) (alternative transliteration)

Runtime:

75 min | Spain:70 min | Spain:77 min | USA:66 min | Argentina:80 min | Russia:71 min (DVD version)

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Italy:(Banned) (1925 - 1960) | Italy:T (1960) | Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:(Banned) (1930) | Finland:K-12 (1978) | Finland:K-16 (1952) | Germany:(Banned) (1933-1945) | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL (video rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Portugal:17 (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/16 (re-rating) (1974) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Odessa, Ukraine

Company:

Goskino

Trivia:

Konstantin Feldman, who played the part of the "student agitator" in the film was actually a Menshevik activist in Odessa at the time of the mutiny and was present on the ship during the latter part of the mutiny. He died in the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. (N. Bascom, "Red Mutiny" p.294 - although Bascom says Feldmann played a sailor.)

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Odessa Steps sequence as the mother walks with her son towards the oncoming troops, a long shot shows as she approaches, the soldiers halt one flight of stairs above the one she is on. In the next shot, however, the soldiers are marching down another flight of stairs as if they are going to walk right past her. Then in the next scene they have stopped again and are on the same flight of stairs as if they hadn't moved at all.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in When Nature Calls (1985)

A true Masterpiece from Eisentstein

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+