The Cinematheque

Commissioned by the Soviet government to honour the tenth anniversary of the 1917 Revolution, Eisenstein’s third feature is a sweeping historical epic re-creating the events that brought the Bolsheviks to power. It is also a magnificent showcase for the director’s use of intellectual montage—the juxtaposition of two disparate images to convey an idea or concept not inherent in either image alone. Celebrated examples of the technique include a baroque figure of Christ reduced, through successive images, to a primitive idol; and Kerensky, head of the pre-Revolutionary provisional government, compared to a preening mechanical peacock. Such metaphorical experiments met with official disapproval; the authorities complained that October was unintelligible to the masses, and Eisenstein was attacked, for neither the first nor last time, for ​“formalism.” The work remains a remarkable testament to Eisenstein’s artistry and genius.