Strike: Silent Cinema

Strike (1924) by Sergei Eisenstein

Propaganda and ‘Cinema of Attractions’

• Eisenstein was a Russian and global film maker- one of the pioneers of silent soviet cinema
• Later the same year, Battleship Potemkin was released
• Widely available- Youtube

Political Contexts:

• Depicts a strike in 1903 by factory workers
• Reflects mass political and social unrest that led to the fist Russian revolution in 1905
• Eisenstein was sympathetic to communism and they saw this as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for the Russian revolution of 1917 that established the Soviet Union under Bolshevik rule
• Strike was made in 1924- 7 years after the Russian military had collapsed and the Tsar had abdicated in 1917
• Mobilisation of the masses ‘strength of working class’- opens with quote from Lenin 1907
• Suggest working class has the power to rebel and overthrow- champions the working class

Production Contexts:

• Eisenstein’s first major film- style and approach is established
• Criticised as ‘cinema of attractions’- used as many cinematic techniques as possible
• Not shown in the west until the 1960’s
• Made with the participation of the Proletkult theatre troupe- Eisenstein emerged from the theatre and academic tradition
• First collaboration for cameraman Eduard Tisse known for his experimental approach- use of different lenses to explore industrial space and use of light reflectors
• Establishes modernity and the machine age
• Close-ups as part of montage (important in the Kuleshov effect)

Meaning and Response:

• Eisenstein promoted Kuleshov’s mantra of soviet montage editing- emotionally influence and position the spectator into preferred readings
• Known for being propaganda- raw film was in short supply but fundamentally it was political- each section of the film was supposed to show the mechanics of class struggle
• Influenced by DW Griffiths use of film for,- Eisenstein used ‘intellectual montage’ to construct a narrative but also to encode political ideology (communist and socialist ideology)

Film Form and Aesthetics:

• Montage editing showed a succession of images- maximum intensity that crucially used juxtaposition to construct meaning
• Effects included superimposition to create shock but with comic interludes- binary opposition to the collection heroism of striking workers
• Closeups of individual faces less to show realism but more to be components with a montage
• Vertov criticised Eisenstein using narrative for recreating historical events (Eisenstein criticised Vertov for using ‘hooligan camera tricks’)
• Contrast- playing with light

• Brownian motion used to show movement of the masses (random motion of particles suspended in fluid)- links with Lenin’s ideologies
• This technique was also used with ‘sevre geometry’ (unusual angles)
• Plays contrast with (spraying water scenes) volume and size, the visible and the invisible
• Matte work (painted backdrops)
• Iris in and iris out
• Extreme close-ups of eyes and cameras
• The ‘trick’ of static image coming to life

‘The Slaughter’

• Intercutting of police crackdown of the strike with the slaughter of a cow
• Eisenstein wanted to emotionalise the audience
• Described Strike as a ‘five act drama of pathos’
• Murder of a small child by a policeman is cut against the drama of the workers driven into a field- connect to individual moments and emotionally engage audiences at the sight of slaughter (symbolic)
• He liked unhappy endings suggesting the Russian audiences ‘enjoyed weeping’

Critical Debate:

• Soviet montage editing- Eisenstein wrote an essay ‘The Montage of Attractions, 1923’
• Philosophy of communism (Marx and Engels) into cinema- encoding agitation propaganda (agitprop)
• Collective action vs bourgeois individualisme
• Montage editing as ‘collision’ (reverse of Hollywood continuity editing)
• Arguably modernist in approach as also avant-garde art film but also ‘the artist in the service of a revolution’

Realist and Expressionist modes of Film making

Realist mode:

(For example ‘Rome, open city)

• Long takes
• Handheld shots
• Real time and space
• Shots tend to be objective- we view the mise en scéne without the camera manipulating our perception.
• Editing tends to be seamless with an emphasis on continuity.
• Camera tends to be at eye level.
• Favors a static, non-moving camera.
• Composition feels random or natural, often with an open frame.
• Lighting appears to be natural, neither high contrast or washed out.
• Real locations tend to be used instead of sets.
• Music tends to be deigetic
• Non-actors

Expressionistic mode:

The filmmaker has a number of ways of modifying the camera’s neutrality and thereby the “reality” that is conveyed to the audience. It is largely by means of these devices that the motion picture becomes such an expressive medium through: (fantasy cinema- like Harry Potter)

The Lumières vs Méliès:

Louis and Auguste Lumière and George Méliès are two key pioneers of early cinema.

What are the differences between Méliès’ and Lumière’s films? 

• Realist vs expressionistic
• Lumière captures everyday life
• Méliès uses comedy to entertain

What is realist about Lumière’s films? 

• Long takes
• Wide camera angles and long shots
• Non-actors- capturing unknowing people
• Real locations
• Authenticity
• Objective

What is expressionistic about Méliès’ films? 

• Fantasy element
• Shot on sets
• Stylised
• Everything has a purpose to entertain the audience