Film2000: A2 Essay Plan
SID: 490071490
Title: Reception and Application of Soviet Montage Theory in Early Films
Topic: Soviet Montage, Battleship Potemkin and the Nosferatu
The research question: How is the presentation of Soviet montage theory characterized?


Background：
This video essay is originally inspired by the different representations of Soviet
Montage. Through a dynamic analysis of the use and influence of Soviet montage
theory in the films Battleship Potemkin (1925), and Nosferatu. The Soviet Montage is
more of an editing style that allows for many new views of the film. The article by
Wajiha Raza Rizvi compares Battleship Potemkin (1925) with Triumph of the Will
(1935). Both films serve as an assessment of how cinema became a tool for propaganda
work between the two world wars. The alternation between dynamic shots and reaction
shots is the film's greatest highlight. “Potemkin is clearly agitational, Triumph of the
Will constructs and supports the national will and energy for being agitational through
its surface character of tranquillity.” According to Wajiha Raza Rizvi, the editing and
cinematography of the German film Triumph of the Will (1935) is superior, even though
both films are films that support the national will and positive energy.1 In a different
view from Wajiha Raza Rizvi, also comparing German films, the essay by Marilyn Fabe
provides important insights into the development of Eisenstein's theoretical framework
for the formal and thematic aspects of filmmaking.2 More than an edit in film, Montage
is the most directly embodied reality and is massively artistic. “It is the artfulness of
Eisenstein’s techniques, inparticular the editing of his shots, that gives the filmed action
such a feltsense of reality. ”3 The editing techniques give the film the most realistic
experience, while breaking with traditional realism.


In an article by CARDULLO, R. J., the same as Marilyn Fabe, the film Battleship
Potemkin (1925) is analyzed in more detail. According to CARDULLO, R. J.,
Eisenstein never emphasizes individual protagonists in the film, "stressed the group
working together rather than being led by a hero. "4 The most significant sequence of
the entire film is in the Odessa Ladder sequence, which is only seven minutes long, but
has as many as 155 shots. The frequency of the shot switch is very fast, and at the same
time coupled with the change of scenery camera, to do in a short time to expand the

1 Rizvi, Wajiha Raza. “Politics, Propaganda and Film Form:Battleship Potemkin(1925) andTriumph of
the Will(1935).” Journal of International Communication 20, no. 1 (2014): 77–86.
2Fabe, The Art of Montage, 20.
3 Rizvi, Wajiha Raza. “Politics, Propaganda and Film Form:Battleship Potemkin(1925) andTriumph of
the Will(1935).” Journal of International Communication 20, no. 1 (2014): 77–86.
4 Cardullo, The Idea and the Image, 86.

infinite time. From the moment the crowd starts to flee everywhere, to a mother
carrying her son up the Odessa steps. There is a strong contrast and conflict between
this scene and the Tsarist army coming down the steps with steel guns. The contrasting
upward and downward movements for grouping, and the changes of light and shadow
between shots are all montage techniques of expression. The sequence Odessa Stairs
also illustrates that the analogy between the pairing of shots and scenes can implicitly
and figuratively express a certain moral of the creator or a certain emotional color of
the event.5 In this way, the theory of post-editing technique of montage has been
enriched and developed, which is undoubtedly one of the very important studies for the
maturation of the film.

The film Nosferatu is not as scary as it seems today. It is more like a well-rehearsed
stage play than a horror movie. In addition to creating the first image of a vampire in
the history of cinema, the use of montage is also very wonderful.6 While the Count
approaches the sleeping Bute, the camera immediately switches to Bute's wife, who
wakes up from her dream with a scream, causing the Count to slowly retreat. On the
way to the hometown village, director F.W. Murnau spliced the images of Bute riding
a horse-drawn carriage and the vampire riding a boat together again. The different
spaces and scenes are united in the narrative by the work of Montage.


5 Chan, Jessica Ka. “Translating ‘Montage’: The Discreet Attractions of Soviet Montage for Chinese
Revolutionary Cinema.” Journal of Chinese Cinemas 5, no. 3 (2011): 197–218.
6 Goldberg, Ruth. “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror ( Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie Des Grauens , Aka
Nosferatu the Vampire , Aka Nosferatu , Aka Terror of Dracula ).” 100 European Horror Films, 2007.
Thesis Statement：
Soviet Montage is one of the most famous and influential pioneers of silent film. One
of the most famous and influential silent film avant-garde, it led to enormous social and
political changes in post-revolutionary Russia. Montage is the style of filmmaking in
which filmmakers create images through image juxtaposition. With the appearance of
Montage, the original style of film narrative was broken, even more dynamic and
relevant than the standard Hollywood narrative. For the theory of Soviet montage, it
was proposed by Sergei Eisenstein. Soviet Montage Theory is reflected in the film by
placing two images on the screen without explaining how they are connected.7 This
leads the viewer to write a story based on the images that occur and fill in the gaps. As
a common rule, Montage films jump from one scene to another, editing together events
that are unrelated to the story to tell it. Montage became popular in Western films after
World War II.8 Use of Montage can give new meaning to the articulation of shots,
which greatly enriches the expressive power of film and thus enhances its
infectiousness. It remains an important theory in film creation and research to this day.

Audiovisual treatment:

7 Russell, Michael. Soviet montage cinema as propaganda and political rhetoric. The University of
Edinburgh, January 1, 1970.
8 Chan, Jessica Ka. “Translating ‘Montage’: The Discreet Attractions of Soviet Montage for Chinese
Revolutionary Cinema.” Journal of Chinese Cinemas 5, no. 3 (2011): 197–218.
The aim, as stated above, is to write an essay of video essay that provides a close
analysis of the themes and presentation of Soviet montage in Battleship Potemkin
（1925）, and through my own editing, to further extrapolate these qualities to other
cinematic works. According to this theme, I aim to construct my own artistic example
of Soviet Montage using fragments from F.W. Murnau's film Nosferatu. The three basic
types of montage I will use combine visual and aural elements. The film of Nosferatu
will be edited into different fragments to become a new kind of story. Moreover, even
though the protagonists of Triumph of the Will (1935) and Battleship Potemkin (1925)
stand out as completely different, I will still borrow film editing techniques to turn
Nosferatu into a kind of real film. Montage is used to continually edit and transpose
shots to flesh out the film as much as possible. More specifically, the use of expressive
Montage is used to express emotions or ideas through the contrast and impact of linked
shots in form or content, in order to create a richness of meaning that the single shot
itself is not capable of.9 Its purpose is to stimulate the audience's imagination and make
them think more about the film.


Filmography
Eisenstein, Sergei, Director. Battleship Potemkin. Mosfilm, 1925.

9 Russell, Michael. Soviet montage cinema as propaganda and political rhetoric. The University of
Edinburgh, January 1, 1970.
Leni Riefenstahl，Director. Triumph of the Will.1935.
F. W. Murnau，Director. Nosferatu.1922.


Bibliography

Cardullo, R. J. “The Idea and the Image. On Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship
Potemkin.” Hermeneia (Iași.), no. 24 (2020): 77–91.
Chan, Jessica Ka. “Translating ‘Montage’: The Discreet Attractions of Soviet Montage
for Chinese Revolutionary Cinema.” Journal of Chinese Cinemas 5, no. 3 (2011):
197–218. https://doi.org/10.1386/jcc.5.3.197_1.
Goldberg, Ruth. “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror ( Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie Des
Grauens , Aka Nosferatu the Vampire , Aka Nosferatu , Aka Terror of Dracula ).”
100 European Horror Films, 2007. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781838710613.0075.
Fabe, Marilyn. “The Art of Montage: Sergei Eisenstein’s The Battleship Potemkin.” In
Closely Watched Films, 19–36. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2020.
Rizvi, Wajiha Raza. “Politics, Propaganda and Film Form:Battleship Potemkin(1925)
andTriumph of the Will(1935).” Journal of International Communication 20, no.
1 (2014): 77–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/13216597.2013.879070.
Russell, Michael. Soviet montage cinema as propaganda and political rhetoric. The
University of Edinburgh, January 1, 1970. https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/4084.