There is definitely a great difference between this silent film and the silent films we have watched thus far. The actors moved more quickly and did not stay in one place for long. The scenes were shorter than those in the others. The focus of the film was also more on the people and their reactions to what was happening around them. I believe the scene where they showed Vakulinchuk in the tent and all the people from Odessa were crowded around it shows a good example of this. When several of the people came up to the tent you could see the pity and sadness on their faces. The way they moved toward the camera covered up most of the people in the background because they wanted to show the individuals reactions to the camera and not have the people in the background distract from this. You can feel the sadness that they are feeling for a man they didn't even know.
I also have to comment on the music. I think it fit very well into the movie. I especially enjoyed when the people of Odessa were marching down the stairs. The music was actually a march and the rhythm fit very nicely with the way everyone was walking.
I found this piece to be easier to follow. I think this was because there wasn't much to it. The men were on a ship, they were being fed rotten meat with maggots crawling all over it(disgusting!), and they decided to take over and continue fighting in the war. It reminded me of Mister Roberts, an American film from 1955. Although Mister Roberts was a comedic film, I noticed that many of the scenes from Battleship Potemkin reminded me of that movie. The scene where the men are running down the stairs to get into line when all called together held similarities between both movies. I am sure that there are many other navy films that share that same similarity.
1 comment:
There is a neat hustle and bustle to this film, isn't there?
I too find the mourning scene and the shots of the crowds marching down the stairs toward the shore very effective (and yes, the music there is great!). It's a great example of "realistic choreography," in my view. And also Eistenstein's way of replacing individual characters with group collectives.
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