The Battleship Potemkin is a Soviet film released in 1925.
It was only 30 years after the Lumiere brothers made their first silent film, The Arrival of the Train, in 1895.
Only eight years have passed since the October Revolution in Russia led by Lenin in 1917.
The reason why this film can be remembered in the long river is that director Eisenstein used a lot of montage techniques that were new at the time in this film, and the effect was excellent.
Regarding the concept of montage, there are many opinions on the Internet. I think the main meaning of montage is to highlight the role of editing in the art of film. In Eisenstein's view, the art of film lies in editing.
For example, the scene of Odessa Stairs is a very typical montage technique. The director keeps zooming in and out in the distance of medium shots, long shots, and close-up shots, and at the same time, he also switches quickly and sharply in the angles of looking up, looking down, and flat-angle shots. , to highlight the brutality of the tsarist soldiers and the panic of the general public.
There is also the only color in this black and white film, the bright red red flag, which symbolizes the Soviet power, which is self-evident in politics, especially in the social environment of the time.
In addition, there is also the director's metaphor. When the sailors on the Potemkin fired at the theater, the director's quick switching of three lion shots was a metaphor for the whole process of the sailors from falling asleep to waking up and resisting.
Since silent movies do not have lines, a scene introduction will appear every few minutes to help the audience better understand the plot. When some directors think that lines are important, the director will also switch scene introductions very quickly every few seconds.
The soundtrack of the film is also very impressive. After all, in the silent film era, almost the entire length of the film needs a soundtrack, and it is very difficult to find a suitable soundtrack.
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