Sergei M. Einstein's silent masterpiece Battleship Potemkin (1925) is a seminal film in the number of provocative images as well as his ground breaking use of montage in the film. I was inspired to see the film because I was reading a book by Stephen Prince, Savage Cinema: Sam Peckinpah and the Rise of Ultraviolet Movies, in which he praises Peckinpah's use of montage and his debt to Einstein and this movie in particular. It takes place during the Russian Revolution of 1905, and the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The street demonstration in Odessa that follows brings on the police who massacre the nonviolent mob that includes old women and children.One of the most striking images is that of a baby carriage that careens out of control down the steps where the police massacre takes place. It is a technically brilliant and portrays a compelling story.
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