Vladimir LeninLeader of Bolshevik

Party

In exile in Switzerland during World War I

Germans send him back to Russia in 1917 to foment Revolution

Enters Finland Station 3 April 1917

Seizes power on 25 October/7 November 1917

What was the Russian Revolution?

Marxism-Leninism: Marxism adapted to Russian conditions

Class analysis: Bourgeoisie - Proletariat - Peasantry

Coup-d'état, not revolution from below

“Dictatorship of the Proletariat”

Revolution consolidated by propaganda and terror

Need to raise revolutionary consciousness of masses (workers, peasants)

Cinema nationalized 1918

Lenin’s article “Directive on film-making” (film as a tool for propaganda)

Lenin’s phrase “For us film is the most important art form.”

Lenin’s instruction: to shoot the processes of industrial production; educational and scientific films.

Profitable art: entertainment “without obscenity and counterrevolution”

Who is to make the films?

Avant-garde intellectuals quickly join the Bolsheviks. Poets…

Vladimir MayakovskyBeat the squares with the tramp of rebels!

Higher, rangers of haughty heads!

We'll wash the world with a second deluge,

Now’s the hour whose coming it dreads.

Too slow, the wagon of years,

The oxen of days — too glum.

Our god is the god of speed,

Our heart — our battle drum.

Is there a gold diviner than ours

What wasp of a bullet us can sting?

Songs are our weapons, our power of powers,

Our gold — our voices — just hear us sing!

Artists… Vladimir Tatlin…

Monument to the Third Socialist international (1919-1920)

… and Kazimir Malevich

White quadrilateral on white (1916)

Photographers …

Aleksandr Rodchenko

…and theatre directors

Vsevolod Meyerhold’s Magnificent Cuckold 1918

What were the elements of avant-garde art?

Rejection of “bourgeois” valuesShock effectAbstraction collagefocus on formcult of the modern (“Futurism”), the new

industrial processes, machinesPrimitivismrevealing the true form of things

(Constructivism)

Post-revolutionary film

“agitka” (агитка): spreading the word about the revolution in the villages

non-narrative

ideological

propaganda value

hero system (Lenin)

non-erotic content

“Avant-garde” political cinema

Lev Kuleshov (1899-1970) - theoretician

Vsevolod Pudovkin (1893-1953)

Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948)

Dziga Vertov (1896-1954)

Aleksandr Dovzhenko (1894-1956)

Eisenstein Filmography

Strike 1923

Battleship Potemkin (pr. PotyOmkin) 1925

October (Ten Days that Shook the World) 1928

The General Line (The Old and the New) 1929

Que viva Mexico! (unfinished – abandoned 1932)

Bezhin Meadow (1935 – undistributed, destroyed)

Alexander Nevsky 1938

Ivan the Terrible Pt. I 1944

Ivan the Terrible Pt II (finished 1946, released only in 1958)

Eisenstein and the Theatre

Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874-1940)

antirealist theatre

theatre of the grotesque

clowning, acrobatics

abstract, “constructivist” sets

Vsevolod Meyerhold (portrait by Boris Grigoriev)

Commedia dell’arte and the Grotesque

Jacques Callot (1592-1635):

French artist, engravings of Italian actors

Masks: Pantalone, Petrushka, dottore

Serious characters (innamorati): lovers joined at end of comedy

For Russian theatre: source of grotesque – deformation of the human form, and expressive facial expression as mask

Eisenstein’s essay “Montage of Attractions” (1923)

“Montage of attractions”: cinema compared to theatre and circus

first experiment in film: grotesque intermezzo inserted in play

Eisenstein and the visual arts

Films as “moving frescoes” – the influence of Diego Rivera

Numerous quotes from the visual arts – e.g., from Francisco Goya

Icons in Ivan The Terrible

Eisenstein was an artist himself – created sketches for characters and individual shots

Constructivist imagery

Eisenstein: early biographyBorn in Riga, Latvia, into the family of a

prominent architect and engineer

Father Jewish, mother Russian

Graduated from the Institute of Civil Engineering in Saint Petersburg

In 1920, joined the Proletkult (“proletarian culture”) Central Workers’ Theatre in Moscow

Studied in the School for Stage Direction under Vsevolod Meyerhold in early 1920s

Film Strike (1923) as a commedia dell'arte

First feature film, about workers’ strikes before the revolution

Serious heroes: revolutionaries

Dark comedy, the revolutionaries are suppressed.

“Typage” : uses found faces, not actors

Masks: factory managers, spies…

Of Men and machines Eisenstein’s films are didactic: they

always channel an ideological message

There is no hero (well-rounded individual) in his early films: there are masses, classes, types

Montage of attractions: juxtaposition of unrelated expressive images in a rapid succession (technique influenced by D.W.Griffith’s Intolerance, 1916)

Psychological effect of montage – “cutting” on the audience. Strike

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Eisenstein shooting Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin

Pronounced “Potyomkin”

Planned as a part of a cycle of films about the Revolution (along with Strike and October)

Tells about an episode of the 1905 revolt (suppressed)

Myth-making, but relatively true to the historical events (not in details!)

Historical Events

11 days of mutiny on Potemkin

Hailed and supported by the population of Odessa

Unrest in the city suppressed by Imperial troops

No support from other ships

Ran out of food and fuel, fled to Romania

No significant political outcome

Battleship Potemkin: structure

Five parts (reels) introduced by intertitles, resemble five acts of tragedy:

Reel One: Men and Maggots

Reel Two: Drama on the Quarterdeck

Reel Three: Appeal from the Dead

Reel Four: The Odessa Steps

Reel Five: Meeting the squadron

Montage and cameraThe Odessa Steps

Innocence vs violence (ex., the face of the woman – the rows of soldiers with bayonets lowered)

Soldiers as depersonalized graphic lines moving forward; citizens of Odessa as individuals (close-ups)

Difference in perspective: soldiers are in control, move downwards; victims’ perspective is from below

Francisco Goya The Third of May 1808 (1814)

Michelangelo’s Pietà

Edvard Munch: The Scream (1893)

Themes and motifs

Brotherhood: Vakulinchuk’s cry “Brothers!”

Religious motifs: slaughter of the innocent

Machines and men

Lens Theme

Doctor refuses to see maggots

Shattered lens of woman’s glasses

Canvas over mutineers so that comrades with guns cannot see them

Camera lens sees and records

The glorification of the machine…

Battleship itself joins the revolution

camera focuses on guns, machinery of engine room

Soldiers advance like faceless automatons down the Odessa steps

Hand-painted flag

Dziga Vertov: Man with Movie-Camera

Dziga VertovDziga Vertov(David/Denis Kaufman)(David/Denis Kaufman)

1896-19541896-1954

Dziga VertovDziga Vertov

Real name David KaufmanReal name David Kaufman

Born in Bialystok, PolandBorn in Bialystok, Poland

Pseudonym means “spinning top”, references Pseudonym means “spinning top”, references his Jewishness (“dreidal” = “top” in Yiddish); his Jewishness (“dreidal” = “top” in Yiddish); also references the turning of the movie also references the turning of the movie cameracamera

Cine-EyeCine-Eye

"Our eyes see very little and very badly – so "Our eyes see very little and very badly – so people dreamed up the microscope to let them people dreamed up the microscope to let them see invisible phenomena; they invented the see invisible phenomena; they invented the telescope...now they have perfected the telescope...now they have perfected the cinecamera to penetrate more deeply into the cinecamera to penetrate more deeply into the visible world, to explore and record visual visible world, to explore and record visual phenomena so that what is happening now, phenomena so that what is happening now, which will have to be taken account of in the which will have to be taken account of in the future, is not forgotten." (Dziga Vertov)future, is not forgotten." (Dziga Vertov)

Aesthetic programAesthetic program

The The KinoksKinoks group ( group (kinokino “cinema” + “cinema” + oko oko “eye” “eye” and and okno okno “window”)“window”)

Programmatic "Manifesto"Programmatic "Manifesto"

““Kino-glaz". Documentary truth. Films as “wall-Kino-glaz". Documentary truth. Films as “wall-newspapers”newspapers”

"It is far from simple to show the truth, yet the "It is far from simple to show the truth, yet the truth is simple." (Dziga Vertov)truth is simple." (Dziga Vertov)

Using one's eyes (lens as an eye)Using one's eyes (lens as an eye)

Man with a Movie CameraMan with a Movie Camera (1929)(1929)

Begins with a statement of values: Against Begins with a statement of values: Against theatre, acting, scenariostheatre, acting, scenarios

No intertitles (but many bits of text tell the No intertitles (but many bits of text tell the story)story)

Continuation of "Kino-Pravda" ("film truth") – a Continuation of "Kino-Pravda" ("film truth") – a film series started by Vertov in 1922, the title film series started by Vertov in 1922, the title played on the state newspaper title played on the state newspaper title PravdaPravda (“Truth”)(“Truth”)

Genre and devicesGenre and devices

Documentary in the genre of “Life of a City”, Documentary in the genre of “Life of a City”, perhaps inspired by Ruttman’s perhaps inspired by Ruttman’s Berlin: the Berlin: the Symphony of a big city Symphony of a big city (1927)(1927)

Actually, several cities shown ( Moscow, Actually, several cities shown ( Moscow, Odessa, Kharkov) Odessa, Kharkov)

Uses the conventions of film-making to Uses the conventions of film-making to “unmask” them (the Kuleshov effect with the “unmask” them (the Kuleshov effect with the dummies)dummies)

Rapid cross-cutting – “wake-up therapy”Rapid cross-cutting – “wake-up therapy”

Ideological messageIdeological message

Down with NEP (New Economic Policy)Down with NEP (New Economic Policy)

Down with bourgeois values, including feature Down with bourgeois values, including feature films; Frequent shots of advertisement for films; Frequent shots of advertisement for Woman’s AwakeningWoman’s Awakening ( (Das Erwachen des WeibesDas Erwachen des Weibes, , Fred Sauer, 1928) – the kind of narrative film Fred Sauer, 1928) – the kind of narrative film Vertov hated.Vertov hated.

Manual labour versus service; down with service Manual labour versus service; down with service (shots of beer parlours, beauty salons, etc.)(shots of beer parlours, beauty salons, etc.)

Lev Trotsky’s quote illustrated (vodka, church and Lev Trotsky’s quote illustrated (vodka, church and cinema as “drugs” used by world capitalism cinema as “drugs” used by world capitalism against the working class)against the working class)

Images of Hitler and swastika: foreshadow war.Images of Hitler and swastika: foreshadow war.

Artistic messageArtistic message

Film about film-making (self-reflexive) Film about film-making (self-reflexive)

Begins with a shot of the movie theatre and Begins with a shot of the movie theatre and reel of completed filmreel of completed film

Heroes are the film editor (played by DV’s wife Heroes are the film editor (played by DV’s wife Elizaveta Svilova), cameraman (played by Elizaveta Svilova), cameraman (played by Mikhail Kaufman, DV's brother) and the Mikhail Kaufman, DV's brother) and the camera.camera.

ConstructivismConstructivism

Glorification of technology, delight in watching Glorification of technology, delight in watching machinesmachines

Camera, machines, trains, tramsCamera, machines, trains, trams

A “choreography” of machinesA “choreography” of machines

Machines as “perfect hands” – humans become Machines as “perfect hands” – humans become machine-likemachine-like

The camera “orders” the events to happen The camera “orders” the events to happen

"I am the machine that reveals the world to you as "I am the machine that reveals the world to you as only I alone am able to see it." (Dziga Vertov)only I alone am able to see it." (Dziga Vertov)

Eisenstein’s LegacyFast cutting makes the pulse rate

increase

Images of horror “program” the audience

The camera/projector as a gun: a machine applied to human beings

Cinema of cruelty

Cinemetrics: a new scienceCreated by Yuri Tsivian

“What do we learn about films from calculating their average shot lengths? I once applied this method to compare the average shot length of Kuleshov’s films against the films made by his teacher Yevgenii Bauer, and when I put my data side by side with world-wide data collected by others, I felt my heart beat faster, for it turned out that between 1917 and 1918 the cutting tempo of Russian films had jumped from the slowest to the fastest in the world.”

Sergei Eisenstein’s October(Ten Days that Shook the World)

(1927)

Dramatic reenactment of the events of October 1917

Shows the masses storming the Winter Palace

Soldiers in Winter Palace

October (1927) by Sergey Eisenstein

Response of Andrei TarkovskyThe long take as a response to Eisenstein’s theory of montage: a poetic cinema rather than a cinema of cruelty

Ultimate response to montage: Aleksandr Sokurov’s film The Russian Ark (2003) – filmed entirely in one take “in one breath” without any cutting.

Sokurov shows the family of the tsar, which wasshortly to be murdered by the Bolsheviks, and the

peoplebeautiful clothes streaming out of the Winter Palace in1913 four years before the Revolution.