After D.W. Griffith, the most important figure in the history of the international cinema is Sergei Eisenstein. Both men died in 1948, but Eisenstein left a double legacy: not only was he one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, but he was also a magnificent film theorist, perhaps the most important one ever. This book of his essays, superbly translated and edited by Jay Leyda, reprints some of his most vital writings on the art of the cinema, including articles on the language and structure of the movies, the differences between theater and film, and the author's efforts to adapt Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy for the screen. In "The Cinematic Principle and the Ideogram," Eisenstein analyzes the written symbols of the Japanese language as a model for film editing. "Dickens, Griffith, and the Film Today," one of the author's most famous pieces, speaks of Griffith as a Dickensian director and then argues for a kind of filmmaking that transcends Griffith's literal style in order to touch its audience on an ideological and metaphorical level. This volume also includes the notorious "statement" on sound movies, which argues against the use of synchronous sound and in favor of jarring, contrapuntal audio that Eisenstein believed would add new dimensions to the talking picture. Idiosyncratic, engrossing, and brilliant, Eisenstein's essays will inspire you to reevaluate everything you thought you knew about the movies.
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was a Soviet film director and film theorist, a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1925), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1928), as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944, 1958). In its 2012 decennial poll, the magazine Sight & Sound named his Battleship Potemkin the 11th greatest movie of all time.
Eisenstein was among the earliest film theorists. He believed that editing could be used for more than just expounding a scene or moment, through a "linkage" of related images. He developed what he called "methods of montage": 1) Metric 2) Rhythmic 3) Tonal 4) Overtonal 5) Intellectual
Eisenstein's articles and books鈥攑articularly Film Form and The Film Sense鈥攅xplain the significance of montage in detail. His writings and films have continued to have a major impact on subsequent filmmakers.
I may have approached reading Film Form from the wrong angle. I initially approached it as an artist, looking for a critical approach to film-making. In this, I was disappointed. Part of the problem is that Eisenstein tries to take a scientific approach to something that cannot be systematized - the means by which an image produces an emotional response. He is constantly invoking music as a comparison - but unfortunately, the systems by which aural and visual information are processed in our brains are entirely different. Certain intervals in music are hard-wired to activate various emotional responses. Our responses to visual imagery, however, is much more top-down, and as a result much more chaotic. Eisenstein's project was doomed to failure in its conception.
However, the book is interesting as a historical document. Eisenstein took his role as ideological mouthpiece for the communist party very seriously - and it is interesting, in a world so skeptical of political art, to see someone write so directly about the political aims of his art.
brilliant film theory; holds that film is always about revolution, and any film should incite one in the viewer. replace the catharsis from the aristotelian model of drama with incitement/invitation to revolution, and you've essentially got it.
This book is extraordinary. America, especially D. W. Griffith may have mastered editing, but he did so for underlining important things, such as cutting on close-ups or wide-shots with continuity, to see clearer the expressions of actors or to see the space around them. But soviet filmmakers made editing a powerful expressive tool. The editing itself became expressive, not just the things it juxtaposes. Brilliant era of brilliant minds.
Eisenstein's theories of montage are applicable to other media, particularly literature, which, as he repeatedly points out, is closest to the way that he thinks about film.
I would be interested to hear more from reviewer Matt (below, gave the book two stars) about top-down visual processes. From my understanding of the subject, "we" (wherever that "I" is located) are never privy to any raw data at all, visual, aural or otherwise. Instead, before our eyes can perceive something, that thing has already been processed in some way by parts of the nervous system and brain. Which seems counter-intuitive-- before we "see" something, we have already seen it. But, if my reading of Dennett, et al, and their sources (I am not a cognitive science expert by any means) is correct, that seems to be the case. As such, Eisenstein's idea that the montage is given meaning through a single image that "directs" the viewer how to interpret the sequence of images, no matter where in that sequence of images this image occurs (even at or near the end) seems remarkably similar to cognitive processes. As for his ideas about overtones, well, I don't know enough about music theory to really critique his usage of that metaphor, but I will say that it has very little weight in this collection, as part of one essay in a collection of such.
This book is, for me, a great way to step outside of the realm of literature and look at its problems without its particular obstacles. Eisenstein rejects the "blending" approach to montage of his teacher, Kuleshov, that would be "top-down" (sequence worked out before individual images), in favor of a dialectical approach, or a conflict-based system. Each image exists only to be superseded by another image. The basic unit of film is the meeting (conflict) of two still images. He thus thinks about film as an ideogram, with all of the possibilities that arise from that, rather than as a sentence.
Sovyet Rus Y枚netmen Sergei Eisenstein'谋n "Film Duyumu", "Film Bi莽imi", "Sinema Dersleri", "Sinema Sanat谋" gibi kitaplar谋n谋 De臒erli Sinema Tarih莽isi Nijat 脰zon 莽evirmi艧ti! Eisenstein'谋n "Film Bi莽imi" kitab谋, yapt谋臒谋 filmler s谋ras谋nda yazd谋臒谋 notlardan, edindi臒i bilgilerden olu艧uyor. Eisenstein'a g枚re, bir film bir "yap谋"d谋r, "form"dur, anlatt谋klar谋 gibi nas谋l anlatt谋臒谋 da 枚nemlidir, bir filmi film yapan "yap谋sal", "formel" ("bi莽imsel", "艧ekl卯") ilkeler vard谋r. "Film Bi莽imi"nde, Eisenstein, "Potemkin Z谋rhl谋s谋", "Grev", "Ekim", "Alexander Nevsky", "Korkun莽 Ivan" gibi filmlerinin "yap谋"lar谋n谋, "form"lar谋n谋 sinema esteti臒i a莽谋s谋ndan inceliyor, bir "film 莽枚z眉mlemesi" uzman谋 olarak yaz谋yor. Eisenstein'谋n "Film Bi莽imi" kitab谋, sinema tarihini, Sovyet Rus Sinemas谋n谋, Eisenstein'谋 anlamak isteyen okurlar i莽in harika bir eser!
brief essay forthcoming - eisenstiens critique of griffith pinpoints the dickensonian moralistic roots in all cinema, beginning with the dynamics of the "chase scene"...and thats just for starters. just you wait until you bite into the juicy essay on joyce, damn it! Eistenstien is a gifted writer and his hodge-podge use of references strikes at you furiously. Supply your reader with bullets, Sergei.
Seminal. Period. It's all about montage, sure, but people don't recognize the linear editing as much as they should. Read his theory - it's about cell-to-cell, not necessarily sequence-to-equence. Just ask Brian DePalma. He's been cribbing on this shit for decades.
Es un libro que te obliga a la re-lectura, sin embargo tambi茅n se ve el paso del tiempo y la evoluci贸n en el cine. La manera en qu茅 se ve铆a el s茅ptimo arte y c贸mo se trabajaba y la gran diferencia de c贸mo se trabaja. Es un libro del cu谩l vas a aprender mucho, pero te aconsejo que antes veas la pel铆cula de El Acorazado Potemkin.
Handed this one off to a friend, so I felt I had to finally read it, but even if I didn't work in film/film courses, I would still appreciate the insights on how to approach a medium for which there'd been some guidance but little in the way of precedent.
The cultural appreciation side of this book would have to be the way he describes being influenced by Kabuki theater and the Japanese language itself. Also I enjoyed the sprinkling of Japanese poems of various syllabic structures throughout his essays.
Grammatically speaking, one written element in the structure of their language, which could be read as "dog + mouth = bark," set the stage, as it were - because in Kabuki he mentions his appreciation in their way of working transitions with a set design that moves behind the actor as he advances in a forward motion upstage - this combination begins to inform his approach to using the montage to say what words and subtitles could not in silent film. Later he covers orchestral arrangements in contrapuntal relation to images and how it underscores the direction the narrative takes.
That said, the American chapter was interesting, as were some comments/observations on race and politics. Some of those actually extend to other countries too. Ultimately this was great to read, if nothing else than for lines like these "For those who are able, montage is the most powerful compositional means of telling a story. For those who do not know about composition, montage is syntax for the correct construction of each particle of a film fragment."
Sorta sad to let this book go, but then again, it will be better off being mentioned to students who might not otherwise get a shot at learning some of these approaches and the history behind them. Well aware people still bristle at the thought of a Russian from his era in some parts, so I could see a bias in those who'd exclude him from film curricula unless it's specifically a course devoted to just Russian cinema. But I never underestimate bias, so I could see his politics being downgraded even in those courses since people are such jerks they think exposing ideas to others could lead to the apocalypse of democracy as we know it, so they gloss over the effectiveness of his work and the significance in shaping that country's politics. The whole reason I even purchased this book was because I took two film courses one summer and nothing remotely like his book was offered with either's reading list. One course was even titled "writing about film" - I don't know how you could not include his work given he approaches film like a language. Which is a shame, because it's really a gem.
鈥淭he affectiveness of a work of art is built upon the fact that there takes place in it a dual process: an impetu颅ous progressive rise along the lines of the highest explicit steps of consciousness and a simultaneous penetration by means of the structure of the form into the layers of profoundest sensual thinking. The polar separation of these two lines of flow creates that remarkable tension of unity of form and content characteristic of true art-works. Apart from this there are no true art-works.鈥�
鈥淚 don't know how my readers feel about this, but for me personally it is always pleasing to recognize again and again the fact that our cinema is not altogether without parents and without pedigree, without a past, without the traditions and rich cultural heritage of the past epochs. It is only very thoughtless and presumptuous people who can erect laws and an esthetic for cinema, proceeding from premises of some incredible virgin-birth of this art!鈥�
鈥淎nd the moment is drawing near when, not only through the method of montage, but also through the synthesis of idea, the idea of acting man, the Screen picture, sound, three颅 dimension and color, that same great law of unity and diver颅sity-lying at the base of our thinking, at the base of our philosophy, and to an equal degree penetrating the montage method from its tiniest link to the fullness of montage imagery in the film as a whole-passes into a unity of the whole screen image.鈥�
Bastante did谩tico e um 贸timo resgate hist贸rico do cinema em sua fase jovem, ainda se descobrindo. Livro importante pra quem quer entender melhor sobre a estrutura cinematogr谩fica e a import芒ncia do Construtivismo na hist贸ria do cinema.
Eisenstein is kind of this odd theorist where you'd think someone so classic and foundational to film as we know it would weirdly have less to say to the contemporary moment, but I've found that every time I return to the well of Eisenstein's early thinking on film I always come away with something staggering and thought-provoking. I think what this volume in particular shows is how concerned Eisenstein was with how the art of film translates into the ways that people understand and connect with information. Some of this is pragmatic in its orientation, but much of it is about achieving a feeling, and even his political attributions for this method strike an oddly convincing chord in today's day and age. Mostly I came away with a healthier respect for just how thoughtful a filmmaker like Eisenstein was. Working with tools that most of us today would see as rudimentary, he was able to communicate with a level of depth and sophistication that belies his historical era, and makes him a truly timeless contributor to the art of film and film theory.
Eisenstein deserves massive credit for his ideas of montage as juxtaposition and collision rather than continuity, and his best work (Potemkin and October) are truly extraordinary pieces of film art in the way they create such compelling sequences without a protagonist. Eisenstein is one of the few artists who created masterpieces despite his propagandistic agenda.
That being said, as brilliant as he was as a filmmaker, he's very much a convoluted writer, using way too much jargon, and trying too hard to create a comprehensive theory of film to justify and codify what are ultimately his opinions about what film should be.
The best parts of the book are when he's very specific about how certain effects are achieved, for instance, when he talks about the disembodied glasses in Potemkin and how they stand in for their drowned owner and pop in a way that showing a corpse would not. Brilliant insight and absolutely true.
I thought it was also interesting how he says Griffith got his editing ideas from Dickens.
Worth reading if not as useful as I was hoping it would be.
The Mad Scientist of Montage! The book feels like a window into the mind of an idiosyncratic, eager scientist explaining his theories with precision (he even uses diagrams to get his point across sometimes). This book expanded the way I looked at editing in film; the ways in which meaning can be created through a "collision" of images, or a rhythmic use of sound and picture to evoke certain emotional responses. One of the few books I genuinely enjoyed being assigned in college.
"The shot is by no means an element of montage. The shot is a montage cell. Just as cells in their division form a phenomenon of another order, the organism or embryo, so, on the other side of the dialectical leap from the shot, there is montage. By what, then, is montage characterized and, consequently, its cell-the shot? By collision. By the conflict of two pieces in opposition to each other. By conflict. By collision."
One of the founders of Soviet Russian Cinema, Director, Scriptwriter, Writer, Cinema Historian Sergei Eisenstein's "Film Form: Essays in Film Theory" is about Eisenstein's cinema work, film experiences and film aesthetics. Eisenstein explains the rules of film making in "Film Form: Essays in Film Theory" with his lessons from his cinema works. Eisenstein writes "the formal", "the structural", "the aesthetical" principles of film making. Eisenstein's thoughts on the film-montage are the main, critical views for his "film form"! For Eisenstein, the cinema work is mainly is the work of film-montage - on the film materials which film director produces with all the people who work in the film!
A Modernist in every sense of the word seeking "formal perfection" (p174) by attempting the audacious: to create a science out of art; to create a blueprint for Bolshevik cinema and in turn, to establish an aesthetic for ideological portrayals of Socialist revolution and an authoritarian Statist interpretation of Soviet governance.
Arguably, the lyrical transcendence of 'masterpiece artistry' cannot be boiled down to structural considerations; a series of component parts. As a result, Eisenstein's early 20th century groundbreaking deductions with regards to the construction of film form, are limited by his attempts to make the ineffable empirically tangible.
Vi um retardat谩rio falando aqui que o "Eisenstein tenta fazer algo imposs铆vel, ler a imagem e o apelo emocional dela de forma cient铆fica", como se arte n茫o pudesse ser analisada cientificamente. Me pergunto se o obscurantismo intelectual 茅 t茫o gigante que as pessoas ignoram algo que 茅 feito desde... Arist贸teles? Plat茫o? Algu茅m mais antigo? E que, tendo origem na filosofia, acabou gerando esse neg贸cio chamado... Surpreenda-se... Ci锚ncia.
Hasta el co帽o estoy yo pero este se帽or era muy inteligente la verdad, Florenski lo es m谩s pero est谩 bien informarte de otras cosas y ponerlas en perspectiva de forma pol铆tica para hacer productos audiovisuales muy pintones. Es decir, opuestamente pol铆tico a ti pero aprovech谩ndote de sus cositas buenas, anda que luego hasta te visita en la URSS Lilian Gish.
Interesante y sobre todo 煤til visi贸n del desarrollo del cine como arte, con varias ideas geniales que ilustran y fundamentan algunas de las t茅cnicas que vemos incluso en las pel铆culas de hoy, pero algo m谩s formal de lo que me hubiera gustado, y a ratos absolutamente infumable.
Great book to understand the theory behind the editing process, though its in a form of lots of diferent talks and essays it gives a perspective on the scientific process of editing a film. insightful i would say
I鈥檓 so fascinated by Eisenstein. A man that鈥檚 had such a great impact on cinema while being such an enigmatic figure. Read this book after watching Battleship Potemkin. Great book to read if you鈥檙e into film theory.