October (Ten Days That Shook the World) (1927)

Sergei Eisenstein’s “October (Ten Days That Shook the World)”


In 1927, Sergei Eisenstein released October (Ten Days That Shook the World) in honor of the 10th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution. The film depicts the events of the revolution from the perspective of the victorious Bolsheviks. With this film, Eisenstein is able to further develop his theories of montage while also trying to place the historical events of the birth of the Soviet Union on a pedestal.

The success of October did not live up to the success of Eisenstein’s previous film, Battleship Potemkin. Many people criticized the film for being stilted and artificial, especially since the events were still in recent memory. Eisenstein focused more on ‘intellectual montage’ with this film, which does not strike as much of an emotional chord as the other forms of montage. Because of this more intellectual aspect of the film, many felt it was too formal – especially since the subject matter is a very emotional experience for those who were involved with the revolution. 

Some examples of this intellectual montage include:

Alexander Kerensky, leader of the Russian Provision Government, being compared to a mechanical peacock and Napoleon: 





We are shown images of Jesus, Hindu deities, the Buddha, Aztec gods, and primitive idols which are then compared to military regalia – as if to suggest patriotism is compared to religious furor.







Overall, the reception to the film was that of failure. The Central Committee of Russia had commission Eisenstein to film the historical events on the newly formed state. However, while filming, Joseph Stalin had taken control of Politburo from Leon Trotsky. Because Trotsky was purged unceremoniously from the Russian government, Eisenstein was also forced to eliminate one third of the film, due to scenes heavily involving Trotsky. Not only that, Stalin hated Eisenstein because he was an intellectual and a Jew. Because of this, Stalinist critics attacked the film for its intellectual approach – alleging that the film was “formalist excess.” 

In spite of the criticism, many film historians consider the film a sweeping political epic which integrates Eisenstein’s film montage theories to sufficient effect. 




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