8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Odessa, 1905. Enraged with the deplorable conditions on board the armored cruiser Potemkin and raising the red flag of revolution, the sailors' revolt becomes the rallying point for a Russian populace ground under the boot hells of the Czar's Cossacks. When ruthless White Russian cavalry arrives to crush the rebellion on the sandstone Odessa Steps, the most famous and most quoted film sequence in cinema history is born.
Starring: Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Grigori Aleksandrov, Ivan Bobrov, Mikhail GomorovForeign | 100% |
Drama | 93% |
War | 22% |
History | 17% |
Period | 7% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.28:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, Russian
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
For students of film, Battleship Potemkin is Moviemaking 101, the cinematic equivalent of the ABCs. But I don’t mean to make it sound simplistic. With its brisk, frequently dialectic editing— as revolutionary at the time as the film’s agitprop subject matter—Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent shocker is not so much elementary as it is elemental. Eisenstein’s theory of montage— which held that the essence of cinema is found in the sudden juxtaposition of images, forming a split-second visual dialogue of point, counterpoint, and emotional resolution—would help define the modern language of film. And editing, no longer a mere technical encumbrance, a way of getting from point A to point B, would become an indispensable item in every filmmaker’s thematic arsenal. While Potemkin has lost some of its incendiary power over the years—the sight of comrades cheering the raising of the red-tinted revolutionary flag seems more quaint than rousing now—the film is essential viewing for anyone interested in the exponential evolution of cinematic technique that took place in the 1920s.
The Odessa Steps
After years of sub-par, public domain copies cobbled together from sliced up source prints and
damaged, washed-out elements, Kino International's 1080p/AVC-encoded Blu-ray presentation of
Battleship Potemkin's 2005 refurbishment is nothing short of astounding. To begin with,
this is now the definitive edition of the film—Eisenstein's 146 intertitles have been
restored to his specifications, along with all of the material that was cut by German censors in
1926 and 1928. What we get here, according to the liner notes in the included booklet, is "a
version that is as close to its director's intentions as it is ever likely to be." I've had the pleasure
of reviewing two other silent classics on Blu-ray—Kino's release of Buster Keaton's The
General and U.K. imprint Masters of Cinema's restoration of F.W. Murnau's City Girl
—and with each I've been amazed by the level of detail to be found in the 80-some year old films.
That feeling certainly carries over to Battleship Potemkin.
The print does show evidence of decades of wear and tear—vertical scratches, white specks, small
pieces of debris clinging to the edges of the frame—but this is to be expected, and I applaud the
restoration team for not going overboard, so to speak, in trying to digitally remove age-related
damage. In fact, I don't see any manipulation here at all. The grain structure is natural, and I
didn't spot any signs of edge enhancement or other post-telecine tweaks. As you'd hope, clarity
receives a titanic upgrade from prior DVD releases. Close-ups reveal skin texture and other fine
details—like the brushed gunmetal on the ship's cannons—and the longer shots of extras fleeing
down the Odessa Steps are impressively resolved. The black and white gradation is equally
striking, with deep blacks, never overblown whites, and strong shadow delineation. You'll notice
some brightness flickering from time to time, but this is inherent in the film technology of the
time, not a transfer-related issue. There are two versions of the film contained on the 50 GB disc
—one with the original Russian intertitles, the other with English title cards—and aside from the
obvious differences, both look identical. In short, this release of Battleship Potemkin is
the most complete, most visually impressive presentation the film has received since its 1925
Bolshoi premiere. Kino, Filmmuseum Berlin-Deutsche Kinematek, and the British Film Institute
should be proud of, and praised for, their efforts.
For the film's Moscow premier, Battleship Potemkin was accompanied by a kind of temp track, a "hastily assembled pastiche of pre-existing orchestral cues," as New York Sun film critic Bruce Bennett explains in his liner notes. For the debut in Berlin, Eisenstein hired composer Edmund Meisel to write a proper score—"I told Meisel I wanted the score to be rhythm, rhythm, and above all pure rhythm," wrote the director—and Meisel's compositions have been reproduced here in a new performance by conductor Helmut Imig and the 55-piece Deutsches Filmorchestra Babelsberg. As I wrote in my review for City Girl—who's original score had been lost to time —I was less than impressed by the new music that had been commissioned for Murnau's film, which seemed to overshadow rather than complement the subtlety of the story's emotion. It's good, then, to hear Battleship Potemkin as it was originally intended—or, at least, as close to the original intent as is possible. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track sounds excellent, with frantic strings, rich horns, and a propulsive quality that underscores the film perfectly. Dynamically, the track is detailed and expansive, and the music has been worked pleasingly into the rear speakers to create a more involving mix. Crank up the volume and you'll feel like you're sitting down in the orchestra pit.
Tracing the Battleship Potemkin (1080i, 42:23)
This fantastic German documentary goes into great detail regarding the history of the frequently
re-cut and often outright banned film—providing comparisons between different versions—and
guides us through the tedious reconstruction and restoration process that was prepared for
Potemkin's 80th anniversary in 2005. Narration is in German with hard-coded English
subtitles.
Photo Galleries (1080p)
I quite like Kino's user-controlled photo galleries, which sport an elegant interface and large stills.
Included here are galleries for promotional materials, behind the scenes stills, and photos of
deleted scenes.
Booklet
The case comes with a full-color 8-page booklet with film notes by New York Sun critic Bruce
Bennett.
I can't express how pleased I am that companies like Kino, Criterion, and Masters of Cinema have shown their commitment to putting out miraculously restored editions of cinema's earliest and most influential films. Kino's slate, in particular, is impressive, with upcoming Blu-ray releases of Steamboat Bill, Jr. and Metropolis. If you're a fan and collector of silent films, 2010 is shaping up to be a banner year. Battleship Potemkin looks phenomenal in high definition and demands inclusion in every cineaste's home video collection. Very highly recommended!
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