Perhaps the greatest silent film

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2007)

Battleship Potemkin is a silent film by Sergei Eisenstein. It gives a historically dramatized account of the battleship Potemkin, where the crew revolts against the captains. This is Soviet propaganda without a doubt, which gives it an interesting historical perspective. It mainly focuses on the importance of revolution, brutality of the Tsar, and individual expense for the greater good. All these strong themes make the film easy to focus on, even for modern audiences.
The acting is good, although not outstanding. The main captain, doctor, and priest make an infamous representation of cold leadership. The captains of the ship are contrasted with the crew by their black jacket. This makes it instantly recognizable which side is which. The placement of the people and actions is perfect. Its editing like this that makes it so easy to watch even though the film itself is old. The good planning carries out through the whole film.
The most impressive quality is the cinematography. The shots of the water, ship, and building structures are all meticulously done. A very effective image is shown early on, where the ships meat is crawling with maggots. The captain's refusal to provide adequate food for the crew reaches a climax when he plans to execute crew members that did not like the soup. This leads to the first impressive scene: the ships revolt. The action here is comparable with many modern action flicks. Later, the famous scene on the Odessa steps and the conclusion are also shown through phenomenal editing. It is very obvious that this quality is years ahead of its time. Few films are so technically great without the use of color and sound.
This might be the greatest silent film in existence. I have yet to see Metropolis, but have seen most other notable silent films. I found Battleship Potemkin to be the easiest to watch out of the bunch. That, along with historical and technical significance, makes this a must see for anyone that loves studying film.