Eisenstein’s emphasis on montage, politics, and focus on treatment of the masses instead of the individual showed the world that political propaganda could also be considered art. He approached the execution of the film just like the tragedy in real life, unfolding in five different parts. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Propaganda as artĪfter dabbling in theatre, Eisenstein created his first feature length film in 1925, Strike, quickly followed by the revolutionary propaganda film, Battleship Potemkin, which would go on to be his most renowned film due to his use of montage and editing. The cover of Sergei Eisenstein’s book of essays on film theory, Film Form, published 1949 These principles would live on to guide the production of Eisenstein’s films for the rest of his career, though the success of this experimentation was varied. These images would give birth to the idea that he wanted to communicate in the viewers mind, without having to explicitly put the idea forth. Eisenstein explains his “montage of attractions” as the presentation of images chosen to create a maximum psychological impact. While exploring his new passion and harnessing his academic background, Eisenstein published a 1923 article for LEF (Left Front of the Arts) entitled The Montage of Attractions, thus starting his career in theory. During this time Eisenstein formed a true passion for all things theater and joined Moscow’s Proletkult Theater (translated: People’s Theater) as the assistant director in 1920. However, his artistic interests were put on hold after his painting professors told him he had no artistic talent, and in July of 1915, Eisenstein enrolled in the Institute of Civil Engineering in Saint Petersburg, Russia to follow in his father’s footsteps as an engineer and architect.īy 1918 though, Eisenstein had dropped out of school to serve in the Red Army, where he was tasked with creating entertainment for the troops. Eisenstein’s childhood spent under the strict rule of both his father and Joseph Stalin encouraged him to seek creative refuge through drawings depicting a happy world and his early obsession, the circus.
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