Eisenstein: a biography

Surveys the films of Russian director Sergei Eisenstein, by presenting extracts from six of his films, with introductory notes (there is no commentary on the soundtrack). These extracts are used as examples to emphasise Eisenstein’s technique of “montage”. The first extract is from BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (showing the sequence where Vakulinchuk is being mourned as he lies on the mole, after having been shot by an officer during the mutiny on the Potemkin). Other extracts are from OCTOBER (Kerensky mounting the stairs and entering the Royal apartments); THE GENERAL LINE, THE OLD AND THE NEW (Marfa attempting to plough with her cow); TIME IN THE SUN (the funeral sequence from the first episode); ALEXANDER NEVSKY (the beginning of the battle on ice); IVAN THE TERRIBLE (at the end of the film where the people of Moscow beg Ivan to return). This film is compiled by Marie Seton