This is such an iconic film that not having watched it would be embarrassing to any serious cinephile. I always suspected that I wouldn’t like it and this is notable mostly because of it was a pioneer in so many filmmaking techniques. This was indeed largely the case as the film reads as being too obviously propaganda to me to have any emotional effect. I suppose it is impressive in being able to muster such large crowds for huge scenes, no CGI crowds back then, and it’s cool to see the Soviet-era battleships up close like this. But even the much vaunted Odessa Steps scene felt like nothing special to me because its lessons have been so thoroughly absorbed by other filmmakers already.

On the Potemkin, a battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the sailors discuss the revolution that is currently sweeping across the country. The next day the crew complain about the rotten and worm-infested meat served to them. The ship’s doctor inspects the meat and declares that the meat can be cleaned off with brine and is inedible. When some crewmembers refuse to eat the borscht that is cooked, the officers haul them up on the deck for insubordination and summon a firing squad to execute them. Instead the armed men side with the other sailors. After a struggle the crew throw the officers overboard and take control of the ship. However one of the leaders of the mutiny Vakulinchuk is killed. When the Potemkin arrives at the port city of Odessa, Vakulinchuk’s is taken ashore and the story of his death is circulated. Large crowds gather to pay respects to a man who is said to have died for but a spoonful of borscht. As the citizenry of Odessa become inspired by the spirit of revolution, the government of the Tsar cracks down by sending troops to massacre them.

This is a propaganda film through and through, so the only named character of note is the martyr Vakulinchuk. Every aspect of the film is tuned in service of the revolution, leaving no room whatsoever for any individual story or subtlety. To our eyes, inured as we have become to propaganda, this feels like a bludgeon that is entirely too crude and obviously manipulative to be convincing. Yet at the time of its release, this was considered dangerously powerful stuff. Director Sergei Eisenstein pioneered film montage and editing techniques to rouse the emotions of audiences and make them feel what he wanted them to feel. The level of violence in here was shocking to audiences of the period as well and might have contributed to it being effective at shifting political allegiances and inciting the masses to action. Certainly it ended up being banned in a number of countries in the West. I’m sure all this is fascinating to historians and film buffs but I’m not sure how much value it still has for someone who simply enjoys watching films. The techniques it pioneered, such as cutting back and forth between different parts of a scene, are such basic staples of all filmmaking now that seeing them here does nothing at all.

There are a few things in the film I liked. There are a lot of scenes depicting life on the ship in unromantic terms and the mechanical machinery on board though it’s unfortunate that we never get to see them firing a real shot. I also got a real kick out of seeing how viscerally anti-religious it is, something pretty much impossible to find elsewhere. We even see a sailor smash a plate inscribed with the words “Give us this day our daily bread” which I interpret to be a condemnation of the hypocrisy of religion. On the other hand, they even insert a brief shot to show that revolution is against the Tsar and not Jews. When a man tries to incite the crowd against Jews, he is shouted down and beaten up by the people around him. It seems that the man is meant to be a plant put there by the authorities, making this a very early example of a political false flag on film!

These little nuggets still aren’t enough to convince me that this film is worth watching for most people. I’m biased against Communism anyway and seeing these huge crowds become fired up into a fanatical fervor looks scary to me rather than inspiring. This will always be an important film for historical reasons but I don’t think it’s something you’d actually want to watch for enjoyment.