Bronenosets Potyomkin (1925)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Sergei M. Eisenstein

Writer:

Nina Agadzhanova (script)
(more)

Release Date:

12 November 1926 (France)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resulting street demonstration which brought on a police massacre.

Plot Keywords:

Sailor | Battleship | Meat | Revolution | Steps

Cast

Aleksandr Antonov	...	Grigory Vakulinchuk - Bolshevik Sailor
Vladimir Barsky	...	Commander Golikov
Grigori Aleksandrov	...	Chief Officer Giliarovsky
Ivan Bobrov	...	Young Sailor Flogged While Sleeping (as I. Bobrov)
Mikhail Gomorov	...	Militant Sailor
Aleksandr Levshin	...	Petty Officer
N. Poltavseva	...	Woman With Pince-nez
Konstantin Feldman	...	Student Agitator
Prokopenko	...	Mother Carrying Wounded Boy
A. Glauberman	...	Wounded Boy
Beatrice Vitoldi	...	Woman With Baby Carriage
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brodsky	...	Student
Julia Eisenstein	...	Woman with Food for Sailors
Sergei M. Eisenstein	...	Odessa Citizen
Andrei Fajt	...	Recruit (as A. Fait)
Korobei	...	Legless Veteran
Marusov	...	Officer
Protopopov	...	Old Man
Repnikova	...	Woman on the Steps
Vladimir Uralsky
Zerenin	...	Student
Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo	...	Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
Sergei M. Eisenstein		(as S.M. Eisenstein)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Nina Agadzhanova		script (as N.F. Agadzhanova-Shutko)
Nikolai Aseyev		intertitles (uncredited)
Sergei M. Eisenstein		writer (uncredited)
Sergei Tretyakov		intertitles (uncredited)

Original Music by
Eric Allaman		(1986)
Yati Durant
Vladimir Heifetz
Nikolai Kryukov		(1950)
Chris Lowe
Edmund Meisel		(as Meisel)
Neil Tennant

Cinematography by
Eduard Tisse
Vladimir Popov		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Grigori Aleksandrov		(re-issue) (uncredited)
Sergei M. Eisenstein		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Vasili Rakhals		(uncredited)

Production Management
Brian Shirey	....	production manager (2007 alternate version)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Grigori Aleksandrov	....	assistant director (as T. Aleksandrov)

Sound Department
Yevgeni Kashkevich	....	sound recordist (1950 re-issue)

Editorial Department
Sala Deinema	....	work print editor: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin (2007 alternate version)
Ron Heidt	....	title editor (2007 alternate version)
Erika Schmidt	....	negative cutter: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin (2007 alternate version)
Gerhard Ullmann	....	colorization (2007 alternate version)
Jay Leyda	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Helmut Imig	....	conductor: Deutsches Filmorchestra Babelsberg (2007 alternate version)
Helmut Imig	....	instrumentation: Edmund Meisel's 1926 score (2007 alternate version)
Helmut Imig	....	music adaptor: Edmund Meisel's 1926 score (2007 alternate version)

Other crew
Aleksandr Antonov	....	assistant to director (as A. Antonov)
Anna Bohn	....	reconstruction collaborator (2007 alternate version)
Mikhail Gomorov	....	assistant to director (as M. Gomorov)
S. Kazakov	....	supervisor (1950 reissue)
A. Kotoshev	....	administrator
A.P. Kryukov	....	administrator
Aleksandr Levshin	....	assistant to director (as A. Levshin)
Enno Patalas	....	reconstruction director (2007 alternate version)
Maksim Shtraukh	....	assistant to director (as M. Shtraukh)
Bret Wood	....	title designer (2007 alternate version)
Hertzel Effensachs	....	director: marine sequences (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Goskino

Distributors

• Goskino (1926) (Soviet Union) (theatrical)
• Amkino Corporation (1926) (USA) (theatrical)
• Timeless Video (2000) (USA) (video) (1960s Blackhawk Films source print)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2006) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Alta Films (1988) (Spain)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Circulo Digital (????) (Spain) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Divisa Home Video (2007) (Spain) (DVD)
• Empresa Hispanoamericana de Video (EHV) (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Eureka Entertainment (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Facets Multimedia Distribution (????) (USA) (VHS)
• General Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• International Visual Corporation (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kino International (2007) (worldwide) (all media) (2007 alternate version)
• Kinovideoobedinenie "Krupniy Plan" (????) (Russia) (VHS)
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Sovexportfilm (Argentina)

Other Companies

• German Federal Cultural Foundation  project development (2007 alternate version)
• Deutsche Kinemathek für Film und Fernsehen  producer (2007 alternate version)
• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv  with the support of (2007 alternate version) (as Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin)
• British Film Institute (BFI)  with the support of (2007 alternate version)
• Filmmuseum Berlin  with the support of (2007 alternate version)
• Gosfilmofond of Russia, Moscow  with the support of (2007 alternate version)
• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv  negative duplication (2007 alternate version) (as Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin)
• Moser Rosié  title work (2007 alternate version)
• Taunus Film, Wiesberg  processing laboratory (2007 alternate version)
• Ries & Erler  music: Edmund Meisel's 1926 score courtesy of (2007 alternate version)
• Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek  music adaptation commissioned by (2007 alternate version)
• Filmmuseum Berlin  music adaptation commissioned by (2007 alternate version)
• Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg  music performed by (2007 alternate version) (as Deutsches Filmorchestra Babelsberg)
• Kino International  titles: English (2007 alternate version)

Also Known As:

Battleship Potemkin (UK) (USA)
Броненосец Потёмкин (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Bronomzidi Potiomkini (Soviet Union: Georgian title)
Potemkin (USA)
The Armored Cruiser Potemkin (USA)
The Battleship Potemkin (USA)
The Battleship Potyomkin (USA) (alternative transliteration)
Le cuirassé Potemkine (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
El acorazado Potemkin (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
El cuirassat Potemkin (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
La corazzata Potemkin (Italy) [it]
O Couraçado Potemkin (Portugal) [pt]
O Encouraçado Potemkin (Brazil) [pt]
Oklopnjaca Potemkin (Serbia) [sr]
Pancernik Potiomkin (Poland) [pl]
Pansarkryssaren Potemkin (Sweden) [sv]
Panserkrydseren Potemkin (Denmark) [da]
Panssarilaiva Potemkin (Finland) [fi]
Pantserkruiser Potemkin (Netherlands) [nl]
Panzerkreuzer Potemkin (Germany) [de]
Potemkin (Greece) [el]
Potemkin zirhlisi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
To thorikton Potemkin (Greece) (reissue title) [el]

Runtime:

75 min | Spain:70 min | Spain:77 min | USA:66 min | Argentina:80 min | Russia:71 min (DVD version)

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Italy:(Banned) (1925 - 1960) | Italy:T (1960) | Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:(Banned) (1930) | Finland:K-12 (1978) | Finland:K-16 (1952) | Germany:(Banned) (1933-1945) | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL (video rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Portugal:17 (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/16 (re-rating) (1974) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Odessa, Ukraine

Company:

Goskino

Trivia:

The famous Odessa steps sequence was not originally in the script, but was devised during production.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the firing squad scene, just before the mutiny, the ship's priest taps a crucifix upon his right hand, holding it in his left. As the shot cuts to a close-up of the cross, it instantly switches hands.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Untouchables (1987)

I don't give a darn that it's been said a million times before: Battleship Potemkin simply IS one of the greatest films ever made, like it or not

I did something a little daring tonight when I watched this movie. I attempted to wean myself from silent movie scores. Sure, when this film originally was distributed, a piano score was probably played with it. Oftentimes, the director would choose the score himself (Charlie Chaplin often composed the scores of his later silent films). But most of the music you hear on VHS tapes over silent films is in no way the same music that was supposed to be played when the film was first released. And, then again, there were plenty of silent films that were played without a score. I do not know the history of Potemkin's score, so I decided to watch it for the medium this piece of art was produced within - film.

Soon after I turned the music off, unaided (or should I say unimpeded) by the musical interpretation of the emotions on screen, I became utterly attached to the film. Visually, it is easily one of the most stunning of all films. Eisenstein was a master of composition. The editing, possibly the cinematic technique Eisenstein is most famous for (montage), is extraordinary. The mood of this film is anger, and it stirred my passions violently.

It takes a lot of effort to enjoy a silent film, especially a drama, but films like Battleship Potemkin prove that this effort is entirely worth it. Come on! You owe it to yourself to watch this film! Your education is incomplete without it.