Was Sergei Eisenstein an overrated classic director?

Submitted by AChocolateHouse t3_116pne1 in movies

A long time ago, I saw Battleship Potemkin, and felt moved and found it a great movie. I didn't find it to be jaw-droppingly amazing, just great. I can understand why people would love this movie, though I must admit none of the plot really stuck with me years later, nor the ending. Just the basic skeleton of what the movie was about, and some images I recall.

I followed up on Potemkin with Alexander Nevsky and Ivan The Terrible. These 2 movies were, for the most part, laughably mediocre. Not good, not bad, just completely mediocre and forgettable. Nevsky had a lot of interesting moments. But Ivan The Terrible was completely forgettable. I saw it was even (rightly or wrongly) nominated for an entry in 'Fifty Worst Movies of All Time'.

I adore Tarkovsky, so I don't think it's a Russian cinema thing. Do people actually enjoy Eisenstein's films? They're rather dry, like a textbook instead of a cohesive and moving plot.

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kiwi-66 t1_j97te0r wrote

>I followed up on Potemkin with Alexander Nevsky and Ivan The Terrible. These 2 movies were, for the most part, laughably mediocre. Not good, not bad, just completely mediocre and forgettable. Nevsky had a lot of interesting moments. But Ivan The Terrible was completely forgettable. I saw it was even (rightly or wrongly) nominated for an entry in 'Fifty Worst Movies of All Time'.

You have to factor in that Stalin was in charge during this time. So Eisenstein didn't have as much creative freedom (regarding plot, character development, etc.) as he might have liked.

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AChocolateHouse OP t1_j97uaky wrote

Well, people praise these movies and claim they're great. I can't go around offering handicaps for political environment. I felt like they were so wooden and lacking any true life. Nevsky was very interesting sometimes at least, but I stand by my opinion on Ivan.

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Jerrymoviefan3 t1_j983syj wrote

Well we disagree on two things since I think Eisenstein is great and Tarkovsky is incredibly overrated.

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AChocolateHouse OP t1_j987mfd wrote

So what were your favorite movies by Eisenstein?

My mind can't wrap around the idea of someone who enjoys Ivan The Terrible but had trouble getting into Andrei Rublev.

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Jerrymoviefan3 t1_j98a53x wrote

I thought both parts of Ivan The Terrible were great though unlike many experts I prefer the second to the first. Since I thought both Mirror and Stalker were only pretty good but really boring movies I never bothered watching Andrei Rublev. I was on my last day of my free Criterion trial where I was watching the films near the top of the 2012 S&S 100 and my choice was quit now or watch Andrei Rublev and then quit and I proudly picked quit now. At that point I had seen the top 26 in the S&S and while all were good or better Mirror was the worst for me.

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AChocolateHouse OP t1_j98d24j wrote

If I were you, I'd give Andrei Rublev a chance. I would say it's arguably Tarkovsky's most beautiful film. It's more action packed, lots of battles and deaths, yet deals with a lot of philosophical themes like individualism, mortality, and religion.

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robintaxidrivvr t1_j9ekcw8 wrote

The guy basically invented the use of montage in film.

His status as a great of cinema is primarily based on the fact that his works are the building blocks with which all movies that came afterwards are built with. The Odessa Steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin may not seem extremely thrilling now, but keep in mind that it is the first important appearance of montage in world cinema - montage, as in "an idea that arises from the collision of independent shots...each sequential element is perceived not next to the other, but on top of the other", as Eisenstein explains.

Check out the history of montage theory. That might help you better appreciate the esteem in which Eisenstein is held.

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Low_Value_Mail t1_j9b4ujk wrote

Consider the power of the images at the end of part 4 of Potemkin. The grandma approaching the soldiers, the mother and the baby carriage, and the ship firing on the opera house. "Some images I recall" is underselling it.

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