[.ca] October (ISBN 6305186774)

Amazon.com Essential Video:
Officially produced to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Russian Revolution, October quickly became another of Sergei Eisenstein's experiments in film form. As in his masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin, Eisenstein uses explosive montage to create the spirit of revolution--in this case, the events in St. Petersburg during the months leading up to the Bolshevik revolt. Eisenstein's insistence on speaking the language of pure film (deploying space, shadow, movement, and rhythm to create his meaning) shoves his mad rush of images straight into the viewer's eye. A worker's rebellion in the streets, followed by the raising of bridges to isolate their neighborhood, becomes a visual symphony of panic. The film has also been known as Ten Days That Shook the World, its release title in the U.S. (borrowed from the book by John Reed). Its value as propaganda can be debated, but October is incredibly dynamic as film art. --Robert Horton

Classic Eisenstein - one of the 7 wonders of Film:
This film is not available in wide screen. Why? Because wide screen technology was not available in Russia in 1927, therefore it is unable to be translated to this current DVD (we are all becoming so spoiled by this wide screen thing!). What was available was academy format, which, while having a significantly narrower ratio than wide screen, served to get the job done. I think it is amazing that a piece of film shot 75 years ago has survived into the next century, mostly intact, for us to watch and analyze while all around us bright shiny new pieces of wide screen film seem hardly worth the effort. I digress... Now, this particular offering of Eisentien also features a bit of history some film majors and industry people (because really, who else knows about this? Sad but true..) may not know. The storming of the winter palace DOES take place within the winter palace. Why is this strange? Because a lot of the props in the movie, and the sets themselves were either rescued from destruction or pilfering by Stalin, just so Sergei could benefit from a wealth of "accurate" material to move his camera through and over. Therefore this film is known for having an "accurate" portrayal of what the winter palace, sans about 75% of it's original glory (and inhabitants), appeared like during czarist Russia. Neat huh? Now as for the historic validity of "October".....no. Sorry. This is a propaganda film, and one of the world's finest by far, but this is most definitely, without exception, Stalin's view of the "glorious" revolution as portrayed by Sergei Eisenstien. Did Sergei support the revolution? If he wanted to get a film made he sure did, and Stalin could be counted on to be Sergei's WORST critic if something did not agree with Stalin's personal "version of history". I like Eisenstein. He is, after all, the father of "the dialectical theory of montage" (film school phrase for Film as dialogue) which I prefer to think of now as MTV.

Surprisingly accurate documentary/propaganda movie:
Despite being a propaganda film created under the "overall" leadership of Joseph Stalin, this description of Lenin's rise to power is even-handed. Lenin is portrayed as a dedicated revolutionary, but not as a figure of a personality cult. While the Tsarist regime is criticized, it is not heavy-handed. Even Kerensky, the most memorable leader of the short-lived interim republic is portrayed in an honest way. Finally, Stalin appears only in a minor role, appearing as simply another of the band of core Bolsheviks. From the historical perspective, the film is also surprisingly accurate. There are no outlandish tales of proletarian heroism, only the description of a political system that fell under the weight of an archaic feudal structure and the strain of a terrible war. Granted that there are some excesses in the tale and none of those of the Bolsheviks is mentioned, overall it is better than most documentaries. One wonders what Stalin had in mind when he allowed it to be made in this manner. As a piece of film, the work is also first rate, given the state of the art at the time. Armed with a historical knowledge of the events, one cannot help but be caught up in the action. The backdrop adds to the power, as you are seeing it at the exact locations. Almost as if a film about the president of the US was shot in the oval office. It doesn't have the precise look of a movie set, but the realism more than makes up for it. Lenin was one of the few people of this century who truly changed the world, although surprisingly, it didn't last the century. Much like the quiet way that the Tsarist state vanished, no one would have believed that after 60 years, the communist government in the Soviet Union was pass away so easily. It was ten days that shook the world, but from the viewpoint of long-term history it was a quick shake.

A great film, but a terrible DVD:
A minimally adequate version of this film on DVD would be (1) in widescreen (2) with the original Russian title cards plus subtitles. This version of the film is "modified to fit your screen." The English titles -- with frequent typos -- are white on black with about 400% more contrast than the rest of the film. The result is unwatchable; as much as I love Eisenstein and this film's St. Petersburg settings, I've never watched more than ten minutes of this DVD. Hopefully it won't be too long before somebody (Criterion, hint, hint?) gives this another try. Until then, I suggest you wait.

Leave politics at the door...:
.. I won't go into the propaganda nature of this film. It's obvious &, to me, unimportant in enjoying this movie as entertainment. What I will say is that this picture has left a mark on my mind & it's not due to any inherent political nature- it's because it's a very entertaining film. The story of an indigenous man who gets placed in power (after almost being killed) by a group who attempts to use him to get what they want only to be overcome in the end by "the masses" is fantastically displayed in this silent film. The lack of vocals only seems to add to it's quality. This movie contains one of the funniest scenes ever put to film & it could've only been done in a silent film using font size- the 1st meeting w/ the reincarnation of the Dali Lama. Oh, my. I had to watch it 3 times in a row the 1st time I saw it. Plus the soundtrack that was added works perfectly. Sometimes this isn't the case w/ DVD/VHS releases of silent films.. Don't be afraid if you couldn't pick Eisenstein, Pudovkin or Kalatozov out of a line up. Buy it, rent it, whatever. Just watch it.

Seminal Eisenstein:
This movie is not exactly designed for casual enjoyment. It's no surprize that it was not very popular when it was first released. Eisenstein takes a fairly intricate, if not convoluted, episode in history and recreates it through a maddening pace of of montage intercut, while establishing no particular characters to build any story around. So the film must be appreciated almost solely for the technique of its brilliant director (along with an excellent Shostakovich soundtrack). Not a great date flick, this is an ideal DVD for students of film history to challenge themselves.