Stunning Imagery, important but still I feel a bit romanticized even for the time

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2014)

It is hard for me to criticize this movie because of its importance in cinematic history. As early as 1925, filmed images of large angry, determined masses of people were I am sure few and far in between. Something we take for granted with movies of our time like Hoffa.
Battleship Potemkin, though a must see for any buff or one who appreciates historical events in their context, played out to me like too much of a cliché propaganda film. Obviously I know it was meant for propaganda purposes, so I cannot fault the movie for that. And again, as early as 1925, there wasn't really a mold yet for how propaganda films should look or feel. However, there was news footage, yes even then there was short filmed, propaganda packages with a concise point.
The propaganda of this movie is sometimes just too blatant for me to appreciate it cinematically. Surely, in this time, we had yet to see the horrors and failures of 20th century forced collectivism, and in recent memory was far-right imperial rule in which made the living reality for everyday working men and women, (as always, the majority of the population) a living hell. So in this context, one may try to view this as a film that broke through some kind of barrier to catch that revolutionary spirit and heart of the everyday people who may see this film.
But unfortunately I felt it could've done better. It didn't achieve this exactly at a human level, or a gut connection. The heroes and villains of this seemed too cardboard for me. With every officer, and a clergyman, as stiff oppressors,not one that was sympathetic. Hardly could this be 100% realistic when we are talking of human situations.
I am glad I have finally watched this film. I look forward to watching more of Eisenstein's work.