Sergei Eisenstein

Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage." He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1924), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1927), as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944, 1958). His work profoundly influenced early filmmakers owing to his innovative use of and writings about montage.

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Alexander Nevsky (1938)

When German knights invade Russia, Prince Alexander Nevsky must rally his people to resist the formidable force. After the Teutonic soldiers take over an eastern Russian city, Alexander stages his stand at Novgorod, where a major battle is fought on the ice of ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Dmitriy Vasilev
CAST:  Nikolai Cherkasov  •  Nikolai Okhlopkov  •  Andrei Abrikosov  •  Varvara Massalitinova

When German knights invade Russia, Prince Alexander Nevsky must rally his people to resist the formidable force. After the Teutonic soldiers take over an eastern Russian city, Alexander stages his stand at Novgorod, where a major battle is fought on the ice of ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Dmitriy Vasilev
CAST:  Nikolai Cherkasov  •  Nikolai Okhlopkov  •  Andrei Abrikosov  •  Varvara Massalitinova

October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1928)

Sergei M. Eisenstein's docu-drama about the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Made ten years after the events and edited in Eisenstein's 'Soviet Montage' style, it re-enacts in celebratory terms several key scenes from the revolution.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
CAST:  Vladimir Popov  •  Vasili Nikandrov  •  Layaschenko  •  Boris Livanov

Sergei M. Eisenstein's docu-drama about the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Made ten years after the events and edited in Eisenstein's 'Soviet Montage' style, it re-enacts in celebratory terms several key scenes from the revolution.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
CAST:  Vladimir Popov  •  Vasili Nikandrov  •  Layaschenko  •  Boris Livanov

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resultant public demonstration, showing support, which brought on a police massacre. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and is a masterful example of montage editing.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Aleksandr Antonov  •  Vladimir Barsky  •  Grigori Aleksandrov  •  Ivan Bobrov

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resultant public demonstration, showing support, which brought on a police massacre. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and is a masterful example of montage editing.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Aleksandr Antonov  •  Vladimir Barsky  •  Grigori Aleksandrov  •  Ivan Bobrov

Sentimental Romance (1930)

Romance sentimentale is a 1930 French film directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and Sergei M. Eisenstein. A short, experimental, slightly poetic montage of city and abstract images.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
CAST:  Mara Griy

Romance sentimentale is a 1930 French film directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and Sergei M. Eisenstein. A short, experimental, slightly poetic montage of city and abstract images.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
CAST:  Mara Griy

Que Viva Mexico! (1979)

Eisenstein shows us Mexico in this movie, its history and its culture. He believes, that Mexico can become a modern state.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Sergey Bondarchuk  •  Grigori Aleksandrov

Eisenstein shows us Mexico in this movie, its history and its culture. He believes, that Mexico can become a modern state.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Sergey Bondarchuk  •  Grigori Aleksandrov

The Different Faces of Sergei Eisenstein (1998)

Eisenstein is celebrated either as the last Leonardo da Vinci of modernity or attacked as Faustus, Faustus who made a pact with the devil. Whichever is the case, neither friends nor foes are able to resist the powerful draw of Eisenstein's work. He was a person of ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Dietmar Hochmuth  •  Oksana Bulgakova
CAST:  Sergei Eisenstein

Eisenstein is celebrated either as the last Leonardo da Vinci of modernity or attacked as Faustus, Faustus who made a pact with the devil. Whichever is the case, neither friends nor foes are able to resist the powerful draw of Eisenstein's work. He was a person of ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Dietmar Hochmuth  •  Oksana Bulgakova
CAST:  Sergei Eisenstein

Sergei Eisenstein: Mexican Fantasy (1998)

Eisenstein shot 50 hours of footage on location in Mexico in 1931 and 32 for what would have become ¡Que viva México!, but was not able to finish the film. Following two wildly different reconstruction attempts in 1939 (Marie Seton's 'Time in the Sun') and 1979 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Oleg Kovalov
CAST:  Alexandra Scheff  •  Grigori Aleksandrov  •  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Martín Hernández

Eisenstein shot 50 hours of footage on location in Mexico in 1931 and 32 for what would have become ¡Que viva México!, but was not able to finish the film. Following two wildly different reconstruction attempts in 1939 (Marie Seton's 'Time in the Sun') and 1979 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Oleg Kovalov
CAST:  Alexandra Scheff  •  Grigori Aleksandrov  •  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Martín Hernández

Island of the Dead (1993)

The Island of the Dead is a film about the demise of the Russian Epocha Modern. The symbol of this culture was the legendary Russian film star Vera Kholodnaya, who evoked a poetic image of the young urban woman on the silver screen. Her death in 1919, shrouded in ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Oleg Kovalov
CAST:  Czar Nicholas II of Russia  •  Vera Kholodnaya  •  Joseph Stalin  •  Sergei Eisenstein

The Island of the Dead is a film about the demise of the Russian Epocha Modern. The symbol of this culture was the legendary Russian film star Vera Kholodnaya, who evoked a poetic image of the young urban woman on the silver screen. Her death in 1919, shrouded in ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Oleg Kovalov
CAST:  Czar Nicholas II of Russia  •  Vera Kholodnaya  •  Joseph Stalin  •  Sergei Eisenstein

Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot (1958)

This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Nikolai Cherkasov  •  Serafima Birman  •  Pavel Kadochnikov  •  Mikhail Zharov

This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Nikolai Cherkasov  •  Serafima Birman  •  Pavel Kadochnikov  •  Mikhail Zharov

Sergei Eisenstein: Autobiography (1996)

A free film adaptation of the director's memoirs. In form, this is the "stream of consciousness" that attracted Sergei Eisenstein after getting acquainted with the experiments of James Joyce. The outer outline of the film is a long foreign trip of the director, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Oleg Kovalov
CAST:  Aleksey German Sr.  •  Sergei Eisenstein

A free film adaptation of the director's memoirs. In form, this is the "stream of consciousness" that attracted Sergei Eisenstein after getting acquainted with the experiments of James Joyce. The outer outline of the film is a long foreign trip of the director, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Oleg Kovalov
CAST:  Aleksey German Sr.  •  Sergei Eisenstein

Strike (1925)

Workers in a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia go on strike and are met by violent suppression.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Maksim Shtraukh  •  Grigori Aleksandrov  •  Mikhail Gomorov  •  Ivan Klyukvin

Workers in a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia go on strike and are met by violent suppression.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Maksim Shtraukh  •  Grigori Aleksandrov  •  Mikhail Gomorov  •  Ivan Klyukvin

Bezhin Meadow: Sequences from an Unfinished Film (1968)

Bezhin Lug (Bezhin Meadow) was to be a Soviet film about a young farm boy whose father attempts to betray the government for political reasons by sabotaging the year's harvest, and the son's efforts to stop his own father to protect the Soviet state, culminating in ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Viktor Kartashov  •  Boris Zakhava  •  Pyotr Arzhanov  •  Yekaterina Teleshova

Bezhin Lug (Bezhin Meadow) was to be a Soviet film about a young farm boy whose father attempts to betray the government for political reasons by sabotaging the year's harvest, and the son's efforts to stop his own father to protect the Soviet state, culminating in ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Viktor Kartashov  •  Boris Zakhava  •  Pyotr Arzhanov  •  Yekaterina Teleshova

Sergei/Sir Gay (2017)

As a teenager, Sergei Eisenstein signed his drawings with "Sir Gay". Mark Rappaport sees clear signs of his sexual preferences throughout the Russian’s film oeuvre. Numerous asides illustrate how Hollywood productions likewise frequently played with nods and winks ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mark Rappaport
CAST:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Mihailo Stanisavac

As a teenager, Sergei Eisenstein signed his drawings with "Sir Gay". Mark Rappaport sees clear signs of his sexual preferences throughout the Russian’s film oeuvre. Numerous asides illustrate how Hollywood productions likewise frequently played with nods and winks ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mark Rappaport
CAST:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Mihailo Stanisavac

Hurray Mexico! (1932)

Unedited film that Sergei Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov and Eduard Tisse shot in Mexico 1931-32. This record only represents the 200,000-plus feet of unedited film that Sergei Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov and Eduard Tisse shot in Mexico 1931/32 for Mary and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
CAST: 

Unedited film that Sergei Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov and Eduard Tisse shot in Mexico 1931-32. This record only represents the 200,000-plus feet of unedited film that Sergei Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov and Eduard Tisse shot in Mexico 1931/32 for Mary and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
CAST: 

Thunder Over Mexico (1933)

As was common in Diaz's Mexico, a young hacienda worker finds his betrothed imprisoned and his life threatened by his master for confronting a hacienda guest for raping the girl. This film is the first of several attempts to make a feature-length motion picture ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Martín Hernández  •  Isabel Villaseñor  •  Félix Balderas  •  Julio Saldívar

As was common in Diaz's Mexico, a young hacienda worker finds his betrothed imprisoned and his life threatened by his master for confronting a hacienda guest for raping the girl. This film is the first of several attempts to make a feature-length motion picture ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Martín Hernández  •  Isabel Villaseñor  •  Félix Balderas  •  Julio Saldívar

Death Day (1934)

During his adventure in Mexico, Sergei Eisenstein made footage of a Mexican "Death Day" celebration for inclusion in his "Que Viva Mexico!" film project. When the 200,000-plus feet of film he eventually exposed in Mexico was first attempted to be made into a ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST: 

During his adventure in Mexico, Sergei Eisenstein made footage of a Mexican "Death Day" celebration for inclusion in his "Que Viva Mexico!" film project. When the 200,000-plus feet of film he eventually exposed in Mexico was first attempted to be made into a ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST: 

Time in the Sun (1940)

Second attempt to create a feature film out of the 200,000-plus feet of film which Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein shot during 1931-32 in Mexico for American socialist author Upton Sinclair, his wife and a small company of investors. The projected film, to be ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
CAST: 

Second attempt to create a feature film out of the 200,000-plus feet of film which Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein shot during 1931-32 in Mexico for American socialist author Upton Sinclair, his wife and a small company of investors. The projected film, to be ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
CAST: 

Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944)

Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Nikolai Cherkasov  •  Lyudmila Tselikovskaya  •  Serafima Birman  •  Mikhail Nazvanov

Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein
CAST:  Nikolai Cherkasov  •  Lyudmila Tselikovskaya  •  Serafima Birman  •  Mikhail Nazvanov

Eisenstein’s Mexican Film: Episodes for Study (1955)

"Eisenstein journeyed to Mexico in late 1930 to begin shooting a film. With backing provided by Upton and Mary Craig Sinclair, the great Soviet auteur planned to make an epoch-spanning pageant of Mexico’s political history and cultural iconography, moving from the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Jay Leyda
CAST: 

"Eisenstein journeyed to Mexico in late 1930 to begin shooting a film. With backing provided by Upton and Mary Craig Sinclair, the great Soviet auteur planned to make an epoch-spanning pageant of Mexico’s political history and cultural iconography, moving from the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Jay Leyda
CAST: 

Sergei Eisenstein (1958)

A USSR documentary about the filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein  (more)

DIRECTION:  Vasily Katanyan
CAST:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Vera Yanukova  •  Maxim Straukh  •  Grigori Aleksandrov

A USSR documentary about the filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein  (more)

DIRECTION:  Vasily Katanyan
CAST:  Sergei Eisenstein  •  Vera Yanukova  •  Maxim Straukh  •  Grigori Aleksandrov
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