Tsarists are massacring citizens on the steps

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2007)

This Sergei Eisenstein silent classic from 1927 chronicles (and embellishes) the true story of the uprising of the crew of the Battleship Potemkin in 1905. Their harsh captain and weaselly doctor are forcing them to eat maggoty meat and the crew has had enough. They revolt, killing 7 of the officers including the weaselly doctor. One of their crew is pursued and killed. When they dock at Odessa, they place the dead crew member in a tent on shore. Odessa was already a hotbed of socialist activity and many people come out to see the body. The government freaks out and sends the calvary (mostly unmounted) out to quell the crowd. They open fire and mow down many on the steps. This scene is graphic, exciting and heart-wrenching as we watch women and children get brutally shot by the heartless calvary. The Potemkin leaves and is pursued by warships who mean to bring it back.
This movie is like a milk-chocolate Hershey bar. Or an anti Hershey bar since how can an all-American chocolate represent a, albeit brilliant, propaganda film supporting the Bolsheviks. Let me tell you how. When Hershey's developed their milk chocolate in the early 20th century, it was a huge breakthrough for the chocolate retards (the Americans). It became huge and Hershey's got a large contract with the U.S. Military. Soldiers all had Hershey bars in their rations. This helped spread Hershey's popularity and made the American soldiers popular with kids when they entered new cities. In a way, Hershey bars served as American propaganda. For their time, they were great, but compared the excellent European chocolate, Hershey's is waxy and tastes of sour milk. This film was absolutely brilliant for its time, but silent movies are not to many people's taste these days, nor is melodrama, as we've matured and moved on to bigger things. I enjoyed the film, had I seen it in 1927, I would have given it a 9. If someone had produced this film last year, I would give it a 4. Overall, I'm giving it a 7/10, weighting the historical significance higher than the actual enjoyment of the film on today's terms.
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