Strike (1925) – Sergei Eisenstein
- Eisenstein’s first full-length feature film
- Depicts the 1903 by the workers of a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia and their subsequent suppression.
Cinematography:
- Black and white
- Experimental camera angles and techniques
- Dutch angles
- High angle/low angle shots
- Tracking shots
- Extreme close ups, close ups and long shots
Mise en scene:
- Intertitles- text narration to show whats happening, character emotions and dialogue
- Reoccurring use of animals- used as metaphors for the working class conditions
- Comparison of animals to the working class people
- Spilling of ink in the last scene acts as a metaphor for the blood shed
- Scenes focus on brutality and show the people in-charge as responsible
- Industrial and concrete setting (factories and buildings)- depicts Russia as a bleak, dark and isolating place
- Poor conditions of the lower working class- grimy, dirty, unkept conditions
- Upper class- leather chairs, polished furniture expensive clothes and setting
Editing:
- Broken down into 6 parts with 3 different storylines
- Montage editing- soviet montage cinema (experimental)
- Cross fades
- Match-cuts
- Slow motion/ fast motion
- Repeated footage for effect
- Transitions- different lens shapes
- Intellectual montage editing- juxtaposition of shots to create meaning (slaughtering of cattle/ massacre of people in ending scene)
- Split screen
- Cutting rate increases to create tension
- Metric editing
Sound:
- Use of non-diegetic music to set mood and atmosphere
- Music used to set the pace of the scene
- Sound effects used to show the banging of fists on the table
Themes:
- Political and social message
- The strength of the working class in organisation
- Suppression of the proletariat
- Social class/ social inequality and divide
- Working class rebellion against those with higher authority and power
- Rebellion and revolution
- Poor working class conditions
- Fighting together- workers demanding change
Emma Coe Film Studies 