"The Battle ship Potemkin" - from Phoenix 69 [undated - assumed post-October 1969]

Increased membership left us at the end of the second Sergei Eisenstein, a twenty-seven year old producer, was entrusted by the Soviet Government in 1925 to make a film to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first Russian revolution of 1905 With cameraman Eduard Tisse, assistant -producers Alexandrov, Shtraukh and others, he first planned to cover all the major events of the 1905 Revolution, including a piece about the mutiny on the Battleship Count Potyomkin-Tavrichesky (the 'Potemkin'). However, during conversations with people who had taken part in the revolutionary events, Eisenstein was overwhelmed by the tragic pathos of the uprising, and decided to base his film entirely on the events in Odessa, thereby sacrificing a detailed history in favour of an artistic interpretation. Lenin's appraisal of the events in Odessa was decisive for Eisenstein.

"The tremendous significance of the recent events in Odessa lies precisely in the fact that, for the first time, an important unit of the armed force of tsarism - a battleship - has openly gone over to the side of the revolution.' Before filming could start, a suitable battleship to represent the Potemkin had to be found. Military consultants suggested the battleship Twelve Apostles, which was being used as an ammunition dump. Having moved the vessel, which was in danger of exploding at any moment, to a position where the shoreline was out of sight, and restoring the outline of the Potemkin' s superstructure, Eisenstein began filming.

First shown in December 1905, the film opens with a huge wave smashing against a stone jetty. Lenin called 1925 the waves of the revolution "the heralds of the approaching storm" The grim scenes of humiliationin the sailors mess and the mounting smouldering anger are followed by the tense scene when the sailors are herded on the ship's stern to be shot, but the rifles of the guards at the ready waver opposite the slightly-stirring tarpaulin covering the group of saliors.

"Brothers, you are not going to shoot them, are you.'" cries Vakulinchuk. The tension was broken and the sailors hurled themselves into action: the officers were Thrown overboard, the surgeon's pince-nez dangled from the yard-arm, and Vakulinchuk was killed in a fight with an officer.

The scene of impetuous action on the battleship switches to the scene on the misted shore. For the first time, the world cinema witnessed the large-scale, breathtaking scenes of the quayside, bridges and long jetty swarming with angry crowds.

The red flag is hoisted to the Potemkin masthead, and as colour film had not then been developed, the red was painted by hand on each copy of the film Skiffs speed across the bay to the battleship with greetings, food parcels and presents for the sailors from the townsfolk. Festive crowds throng the quayside and the famous Odessa steps running down to the sea. Then comes the terror. Ranks of soldiers advance down the steps firing repeated volleys on the unarmed crowd. At the foot of the steps, the fleeing crowd is met by galloping Cossacks, lashing out with whips and sabres.

The mounting tempo of the scene and the fate of the people has provided food for thought for critics and producers ever since A panick-stricken mother rushes up the stairs with a dead child in her arms to meet its killers. A young mother is struck down by a bullet, sending the pram with her baby careering down the steps. It goes faster and faster, rolling over the dead bodies.

Then the battleship's guns open fire on the generals' H.Q. The house and gate crash down in a cloud of smoke and dust.

A squadron of warships under the Admiral's flag summoned to finish off the rebellious battleship, is steaming "half speed ahead" across the Black Sea. "Battle Stations" is sounded aboard the battleship. The heart of the battleship and those of its crew beat in unison, Everyone is ready to die rather than surrender.

Once again the slowly-mounting tension is broken by an outburst of joy. The squadron refuses to open fire. The overjoyed sailors rush out on deck, waving their caps, laughing and shouting. The huge towering bows of the Potemkin, taken from a very low angle, move slowly towards the audience. It seems to sail straight out of the screen and into history. Revolution proves invincible in the end of the film, which, although a bold experiment in cinema art, is simple, clear and understandable for every cinemagoer. This is what makes it immortal.

The film provoked a political scandal in Germany, the first country to buy it, and was banned by the censors on the grounds that it was "part of the full-scale revolutionary propoganda, teaching the tactics of uprisings" and "instigated personnel of the armed forces to mutiny".

In the U.S.A. in 1926, it had a mixed reception. Typical of the many enthusiastic comments made about it is the following:

'The Battleship Potemkin' is the best film ever made", said Charlie Chaplin. The crew of the Dutch ship Seven Provinces are said to have rebelled against their officers after seeing the film.

Eisenstein's later films, including'October' and 'Alexander Nevsky' followed in the wake of Potemkin', which has had a sound track added to it and still proves popular. 'The Battleship Potemkin' impresses and inspires by its revolutionary pathos, historical truth and perfect artistic form.

P. Durrans L.Vl (i)