Revolutionary And Lyrical

Rating: 9/10 (22 May 2009)

Sometime ago, Russia was a safe place for aristocrats but at the beginning of the last century things went from bad to worse and the aristocracy had to leave their country and go to more secure and warm places in order to maintain their integrity ( physical and economic ).
This German count remembers pretty well traveling to the city of Odessa during those times exactly when things were changing. Herr Graf personally witnessed how rude the Russian navy sailors can be if they are forced to eat rotten food ( they should have considered themselves lucky in comparison to this German count's servants who are nourished only on bread and water ) or how complicated it is to sail aboard an aristocratic yacht in the Russian seas because they are full of dangerous battleships , not to mention trying to walk about the Odessa streets, crowded with people who must be moved out of the way by the Tsarist soldiers in order to put order in those streets.
Times have changes since then, certainly, but there is something that it is intact, that maintains the same spirit in Odessa: the magnificent, the masterful, the great and superb film direction of Herr Sergei M. Eisenstein in "Bronenosets Potyomkin".
It is not necessary to say to much about this unique silent film masterpiece, a film than any longhaired youngster who wants to be irremediably captured by the power and fascination of silent films must-see ( and their elders revisit) because this oeuvre is a stunning film exercise . It's inventive film narrative is full of symbolism, metaphors, beautiful and suggestive shots, excellent montage and at the same time it revolutionary and lyrical. Of course, one must not overlook the Odessa stairs scene, one of the most famous and fundamental sequences in the history of cinema and one that can still make audiences gasp for breath ( not a complicated matter for this German count due to his asthma ).
The film virtues of "Bronenosets Potyomkin" can be appreciated even more today thanks to a restored and uncensored version ( censorship was a constant tragedy during Herr Eisenstein career ) of the film that the German-frenchified TV. Channel "ARTE" recently showed. This includes an introduction written by Herr Trotsky ( obviously eliminated afterwards ) in addition to some other shots that were cut.
And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must take by storm the Winter Palace.
Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/