Sunday, February 2, 2014
Politics of Soviet Montage
Eisenstein believed that by juxtaposing disparate images in his editing process he could awake the masses from their ideological slumber and engage them to work for a progressive society. Recall the Odessa Steps sequence. The various jump cuts of horror and outrage are supposed to mobilize us to work to prevent such abuses in the future. How realistic is this theory? Does the technique of montage engage us emotionally? Does it mobilize us to action? Or perhaps could it lead to other reactions? Consider, for example, the montage a viewer may assemble by clicking various channels on one's television. Or consider a similar editing for an action or war movie. Or consider an even more radical application of this process (with images without any logical relation). Is montage always connected to radical politics or can it be used for other purposes?
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Eisenstein's use of the Jump Cut (Soviet Montage) definitely creates the chaos that he had hoped would be apparent in "Battleship Potemkin". As Dr. Ialacci stated above, Eisenstein's aim was to "awake the masses from their ideological slumber". He strategically forgoes the selection of a main character in the film due to the fact that the story is communicated more meaningfully when the most important aspect of the film is the collective people as one. In the "Odessa Steps" scene, he tactically bounces from face to face to amplify the commotion that arises suddenly. At the beginning of the scene, he utilizes the montage shot to move through the different happy faces of the people. Then the soldiers appear and he hits the same faces with the montage again to show how quickly the emotions change. While this specific use of the Jump Cut is connected to political purposes, it can be applied to a wide spectrum of themes. For instance, as stated earlier, Eisenstein applies the Jump Cut to the first minute of the "Odessa Steps" scene, but he chooses not to portray chaos. Instead, he successfully displays the crowd's collective elation without needing to touch on subject of politics. This type of montage is used to show happiness in many different scenarios. A lot of the time audiences see a montage of different moments that relate to one another. For instance, one could use the montage to stitch various different celebratory reactions in a movie in order to show a wide variety of people and to reinforce the significance of said moment.
ReplyDeleteEisenstein makes excellent use of Soviet Montage filmmaking techniques in the film, "Battleship Potemkin"; quick, spontaneous cuts emphasize the chaotic, disturbing and provoking effects of scenes such as the "Odessa Steps" scene, and imaginably would have awakened the masses from political inactiveness and motivated them to act. However, the bottom line is that there are appropriate uses and inappropriate uses of Soviet Montage. For example, as mentioned in the question, a montage produced from flipping through channels on a TV would not have the same effect as “Battleship Potemkin”; at most, the viewer will gain an understanding of what programs and commercials are airing, but such an action would not profoundly evoke emotions. However, Soviet Montage is not limited for use in politically oriented movies; in a horror or action movie, Soviet Montage has the capability to disorient, confuse, frighten or excite the viewer, which the director may use to his or her advantage when making the movie. A film that comes to mind is the “Blair Witch Project”; spontaneous cuts and the lack of smooth transitions between scenes emphasize the chaotic nature of the movie and the raw, unrefined horror of being hunted by a mysterious, evil entity. In summary, Soviet Montage can be applied to a wide range of mediums; however, there are appropriate and inappropriate uses for such filming techniques.
ReplyDeleteEisenstein’s juxtaposition of images engages one in an emotional way, but does not necessarily push one to the point of action. The Odessa Steps scene is a sequence of horror-filled and outrageous events, one following another and another. Eisenstein’s choice to assemble a group of images that do not necessarily fit together initially causes the viewer to feel disoriented and confused. As the film continues, the audience begins to understand the location in both time and space and the juxtaposition of destructive events becomes more frequent and more brutal. The increasing pace of the jump cuts makes the viewer more emotionally attached to the outcome of the film. Contrary to the emotional association between the viewer and the film, the viewer is not necessarily going to be driven to the point of action. Although Eisenstein’s ultimate goal may be to push the viewer towards action, his theory that films can drive the masses into a revolution may be an overreach. Eisenstein believed that with the emotional association his film created that there would be such an emotional toll on the audience that they would simply act to prevent any future destruction. The jump cups used by Eisenstein certainly evoke an emotional response, but in the process also confused the viewer and failed to influence any direct action from the audience. Montage, although created for the use of radical politics, is not necessarily connected with the purpose of driving a group towards political action. In more recent movies, montage is used primarily for the intention of creating chaos and disorientating the viewer and is no longer used for the purpose of radical politics.
ReplyDeleteI think that Einstein is successful in his theory. The jump cuts amp up the energy of the scene giving it the illusion of even more motion. The idea that it would incite strong feelings is true because it makes the audience feel more uncomfortable about what is going on. I think that the back and forth between the crowd and the soldier allowed for the audience to see that there was a clear victim and a clear enemy. The film made you feel sympathy for the people running away and anger for the soldiers chasing them. While not everyone would have felt the need to “strike!” against the soldiers, everyone would feel discomfort for them. Einstein may have taken the sympathy for the crowd too far as the baby fell down the steps. This image may not make someone angry, but rather sad or upset in a different way. The images used in the “Odessa Steps” scene of “Battleship Potemkin” seem like they are meant to make someone nervous. I think that this was highlighted in the fact that the scene took place on a long set of steps. The stairs make the ground uneven and when captured as a long shot or even an extreme long shot, can allow the viewer to see a lot of the action much like the effect found in a raked stage in the theater. The setting and content of the film are disorienting and successful at making the viewers think more about the presented issue.
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