Battleship Potemkin

Rating: Null/10 (6 February 2011)

Battleship Potemkin is unlike any movie I have seen before regarding the treatment of the protagonist and the antagonist. More specifically it is the lack of protagonist and antagonist in the film. In modern cinema there are always specific, identified characters that oppose one another from beginning to end. Battleship Potemkin does identify several characters however they do not carry the narrative very far. Indeed their roles seem limited to simply serve a purpose in the bigger scheme of things.
Rather than specific characters as protagonist or antagonist, Eisenstein uses opposing forces. The opposing forces are the oppressed people versus the oppressive authority. They are groups identified by typage. That is they are simply identified by their appearance and their actions. Officers, soldiers and priests compose the oppressors. Sailors and townspeople compose the oppressed. The story is about the struggle between these two groups. It is a somewhat successful rebellion. One in which innocent lives must be sacrificed to overcome the oppressors.
The initial rebellion begins when sailors refuse to eat rotten meat and the officers of the ship refuse to recognize that the meat is rotten. Action on the ship comes to a climax and the sailors overpower the officers with numbers and they successfully take over the ship. Their rebellious act spills over onto the mainland and inspires the people there to come to their aid by delivering food. In doing so the people on the mainland are targeted for execution.
Next comes a great scene because it is so emotional. Staged on the steps of Odessa, soldiers march and fire upon a large unarmed crowd. The people are massacred and the Potemkin is forced back to sea. Although this would not seem to be a victory, it is in some regard. The sailors are not deterred rather they are emboldened by the injustice. They decide as a group that they will sail on and confront the fleet.
The movie has a happy ending. Although it is probably unrealistic, it enforces the idea that a group can rise up and achieve unity. Suspense mounts as the Potemkin sights the fleet. Guns are raised and the sailors prepare for a battle. At the last moment, they realize other sailors have rebelled just as they have and the movie ends with the two crews rejoicing together.