Montage Editing in Battleship Potemkin

About Battleship Potemkin

In June 1905, the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against their officers, which later sparked off the 1917 Russian Revolution that led to the eventual rise of the Soviet Union. Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet film director, released his second full-length film - a silent film - in 1925 named Battleship Potemkin that tells a dramatised account of the mutiny. Eisenstein's intended to test his theories of montage through this propaganda film as he believed that he could elicit the greatest emotional response and make the audience feel sympathy for the sailors and despise for those who oppress them, ultimately influencing political thought through his editing methods. His editing techniques are known as the five methods of montage, which are metric, rhythmic, tonal, overtonal, and intellectual. The film failed to attract masses of audience, but received positive response from overseas. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels commented on the Potemkin saying that it is "a marvelous film without equal in the cinema ... anyone who had no firm political conviction could become a Bolshevik after seeing the film".

Narrative Structure

The plot of the film is divided into five acts. In Act I: Men and Maggots, the sailors are given poor quality meat and start protesting. In Act II: Drama on the Deck, the sailors take control of the ship, but the leader is killed. In Act III: A Dead Man Calls for Justice, the Potemkin arrives at Odessa and the people of Odessa mourn over the leader's death. In Act IV: The Odessa Steps, imperial soldiers massacre the Odessans. In Act V: One Against All, another battleship that was sent to intercept the Potemkin decides to join the mutiny and help the sailors. 

Montage Methods

Eisenstein uses metric montage and manipulates the length of the shot in order to elicit an emotional reaction from the audience. For example, in the famous Odessa Steps sequence, shots of the baby's pram rolling down the steps were shown (10:36) and while the pram starts falling faster, the number of frames of each shot remains the same, making it seem like the fall of the baby is taking more time than it would normally do. This helps with creating a dramatic effect and makes the audience feel anxious for the baby. Rhythmic montage is used where the shots of the soldiers marching and the people fleeing in the Odessa Steps sequence were cut rapidly to create tension. The contrast between the two images is dramatic as the shot of the soldiers marching shows order while the shot of the fleeing crowd shows disorder. Tonal montage is used in the opening scene of Act 3, when sailors and workers were mourning over the death of sailor Vakulinchuk (31:40). Shots of Vakulinchuk's body are intercut with shots of the harbour before dawn and mourning faces, which creates a sense of melancholy and enhances the sense of mourning over a brave soldier. An example of the use of intellectual montage is the three rapid shots of the marble lions at the end of the Odessa Steps sequence (go to 11:45) - the first sleeping, the second waking up, the third rising, gives the audience the feeling that the lions are rising up because they are angered by what was happening at the massacre. This symbolises how the Russians are awakened and ready to fight against the tsarist forces.