October -- Sergei Eisenstein's overlooked masterwork - Page 2
© John Nesbit
Lenin returns to rally the people, but about counter-revolutionaries put down a spontaneous revolt (that inspires the famous bridge montage) Lenin must hide underground until the fateful ten days in October that truly shake the world.
While blatantly propagandistic, the film is surprisingly even-handed towards the Bourgeoisie government for the most part. However, as the crucial October date approaches Eisenstein juxtaposes images of Napoleon with Menshevik leader Alexander Kerensky and later associates the leader with golden peacocks and oppulance. Contrasted with these obvious symbols are simple images promoting the Bolshevik cause: Bread, Peace, Land, and Brotherhood.
The two-hour film will likely provide more details about the Russian Revolution than most non-Russian history specialists desire while others will resent the film's core political message, but film students will continue to gain by closely examining Eisenstein's artistic expression.
By no means does October represent the most coherent of Eisenstein's films. At times it seems that the filmmaker is experimenting with the medium, but still many parts continue to be engaging. MTV could learn some lessons from this great master-he certainly leaves us far more memorable montages than anything that modern MTV copycat filmmakers have created.
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