The Battleship Potemkin- Sergei Eisenstein

The Battleship Potemkin, directed by Sergei Eisenstein was a film that actually was quite enjoyable to watch compared to the other silent films seen in class so far. Unfortunately, I suffer from the bias of being used to films with dialog, so films that lack this are harder for me to fully comprehend and appreciate; the Battleship Potemkin however was an exception to this. The film was blatantly a piece of pro-Soviet propaganda; the murderous soldiers under the control of the Tsar massacring the citizens of Odessa just being one example; the usage of the red flag being another. The red flag was the only color visible during the film; this being significant for propaganda purposes, due to the color of the Soviets being red. In addition to this, its use of the orchestral soundtrack was quite helpful in exacerbating the emotions being felt by not only the revolutionaries but the Tsarist oppressors themselves. Altogether, the Battleship Potemkin was and has been the best silent film I have seen to date because of the deeper meaning it holds and the dramatic orchestra. Although, I am against the Soviet ideals of Communism, I enjoyed the use of propaganda to attempt to convert anti-Soviet Russians; this factor gave me a different viewpoint with which I was able to appreciate it.