Great leaps in Unity
In the silent film Battleship Potemkin, we learn about the mutiny that happened in 1905 on the Black Sea. I found that this silent film is much different from the first two that we watched. This one has a much different pace then the other two films. At times it went very fast and absolutely nothing was standing still, and other times it went so slow. The slowest part of the film is the build up before the "battle." That moment seemed to go on for forever. The music kept going and and everyone was sitting waiting for something to happen. I feel that the director, Sergei Eisenstein, wanted to audience to feel as much intensity as the characters were feeling.
In Part 1 of this film, we learn as to why the sailors are rebelling. We learn that their meat is rotten and the men in charge are denying that fact. In Part 2 of this film the rebellion begins and the man to begin it, named Vakulinchuk, is the first man to die. Sailors eventually win and they take Vakulinchuk's body to the shore of Odessa. At the end of this Part you see Vakulinchuk's body laying in a tent on the shore as the sun sets. In the beginning of Part 3 the sun rises as the people find Vakulinchuk's body and realize what has happened. The people on land then send a messenger to the sailors saying that they stand with them. The scene then ends with a red flag. I think that it is very symbolic that the director colored the flag red. In Part 4 the towns people begin to bring food to the soldiers. But while that is happening, The rest of the people on land are ambushed by the Tsar's soldiers. There is a very popular scene of a baby in a carriage rolling down the stairs. And finally, in Part 5 a squadron is sent to meet with the sailors. This scene is very tense and you spend a long time waiting for something to happen. In the end the squadron stands with the sailors.
I think that this film paints the Tsar and his soldiers, men in power, in a very bad light. It shows how when everyone stands together one can make great leaps.
I like a lot of the points you've mentioned in your review (flag, pace,music). Good work.
ReplyDeleteThere are definite crescendos and build-ups throughout the film--though Eisenstein is also good at popping a few surprises our way, like the sudden onslaught of the Tsarist officers on the Odessa Staircase...
ReplyDeleteI never really thought of the music at the end being what the characters were feeling, when I have watched this film previously all the sailors at the end wait in silence to see what will happen, it is just as intense and I find it interesting that it kind of works both ways, with or without the dramatic music.
ReplyDeleteI agree that having specific actions go with a specific group of people not only shows who they are, but those whose ideals they work towards. Like how you pointed out the soldiers being ruthless, and how it paints a bad light on the tsar. Great review.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but the review is good but the thing that caught my eye was title of the review just because is was the basic just title of movie so that was cool.
ReplyDeleteI did feel as though the buildup in part 5 did take a very long time. The director also took a great deal of time in part 3 when revealing the man's body to the public and building up the revolution. Though these moments were slower I do agree with you that they did provide an intensity and curiosity as to what was going to happen next and how everything was going to play out.
ReplyDeleteI agree when you said that the red flag added a very symbolic touch to the film. It was very obvious, considering we've been watching black and white films fairly consistently, and haven't had a touch of color other than the different types of lenses used.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the build-up for battle in act 5 was for building suspense, I personally found it to drag on far too long. Suspense was building for about 2/3 of it, but after that I began to stop caring about the outcome. I suspect I found this particularly bothersome because I'm not used to the pacing of older titles, or because we didn't get to know the characters in a personal sense.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the pace of the film which benefitted it. Also the music before the battle made things very intense and did actually slow down the movie. Lastly, the movie did paint the Czars as inhumane people that didn't care about its people.
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned that the suspense right before the battle was to give us an idea on how the actors were feeling. I never really thought of it that way before.
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