The Ecstatic Eye. Sergueï Eisenstein 17.11.2019 Centre Pompidou-Metz

Eisenstein montant Octobre, 1927. RGALI, 1923/1/217, f.1 © Russian State Archive of Literature and Art [online] At: https://www.centrepompidou-metz.fr/en/ecstatic-eye-sergue-eisenstein-filmmaker-crossroads-arts#onglet-0 (Accessed 30.03.2020)

Sergey Mikhailovich Eisenstein (1898-1948)

Biology, history, mechanics, painting - everything was important for the theoretical constructions of Eisenstein. He believed that there is no difference between the figurative, artistic and logical, scientific forms of building a reality, everything is one and important. A brilliant Russian film director, «сultivating the art of montage and of rhythm to the point of inventing a new visual language in the middle of the 1920’s, Eisenstein always put himself at the crossroads of the arts.» (Pompidou-Metz, online)

“Sergey Eisenstein had no barriers; he said that he could film the“ Theory of Surplus Value ”of the fourth volume of Karl Marx’s Capital.” (TV channel Culture, online)

At three years old he began to speak German, at 5 years French, and English at 7. Later he learned Japanese. At the age of 19, Sergey witnessed the February and October revolutions. This left a lasting impression on the young boy; ten years later, the film October (1927) appeared on these events.

Eisenstein works as a decorator of the play Mexican (Jack London) in 1920, at this time he begins to experiment with cinema. In 1924, he made his first film, The Strike. In contrast to foreign cinema, his focus on Collective Hero. The director’s focus was on the mass nature of the work, montage, close-up, perspective - “installation of attractions”. He builds sharp, emotional shots, movie metaphors in the likeness of literature. 1925 Eisenstein’s second film, Battleship Potemkin, was released. The composition of this work was built impeccably,

and the cadres of the film on the stairs became an icon for cinema.

In 1938, the director begins to work on the film "We are the Russian people", but Stalin personally renamed the film to Alexander Nevsky. Eisenstein's first sound film. In the film, the general is transmitted through the quotient. This is the director’s revised view - “only through an individual person, a separate personality, the film should be presented.”

A striking interpretation of the sound and images. Eisenstein, S. (2019) The Ecstatic Eye. Sergueï Eisenstein, filmmaker at the crossroads of the arts. [Exhibition] Metz: Centre Pompidou-Metz. 28/09/2019 – 24/02/2020.

The 1944 year. Ivan Grozny. The director works with uncomfortable poses, sharp light and complex angles.

If, during his lifetime, Eisenstein was an artist that the whole world snatched up and whose work and philosophy deeply moved minds, today, this aura has considerably worn off owing to his cinematographic work no longer being systematically shown via the cinema clubs. Likewise, the complexity and the reach of Eisenstein accomplishments have for a long time been underestimated because of ideological interpretations reducing his work only within the context of Communist USSR and to his relationship with Stalin. (Pompidou-Metz, online)

For me, this exhibition revealed the simplicity of the director’s creative concept. Eisenstein chose for himself at the beginning of his career a principle that he tried to bring to the limit - this is the construction of the cadre. As in painting, composition and colour, or as in the theatre, building up voluminous scenery, the work of actors, or as in music (introduction, main part, conclusion). He works with the event and shows people in this event, and later in his career, he focuses on the person and already shows the event through the person. For the historical period in which the director worked, propaganda and kitsch were characteristic. But at the same time, Eisenstein showed rather his vision of the problem. He sought to embody his vision of national distinction, but, it seems to me, he was very subject to the influence of the party and the “views” of that time.

Bibliography and references

1. Centre Pompidou-Metz, ExhibitionsThe Ecstatic Eye. Sergueï Eisenstein, filmmaker at the crossroads of the arts. From 28th September 2019 to 24th February 2020 [online] At: https://www.centrepompidou-metz.fr/en/ecstatic-eye-sergue-eisenstein-filmmaker-crossroads-arts#onglet-0 (Accessed 30.03.2020)

2. Избранные произведения в шести томах Эйзенштейн Сергей, Издательство „Искусство" МОСКВА 1963

3. Классика советского кино (официальный канал) Броненосец Потемкин (1925) фильм смотреть [online] At: https://youtu.be/ZLZBt_TZ7mo (Accessed 30.03.2020)

4. Телеканал Культура, Сергей Эйзенштейн. Легенды мирового кино. Режиссер Андрей Истратов [online] At: https://youtu.be/ged9CX3d9qc (Accessed 30.03.2020)

5. Классика советского кино (официальный канал) Иван Грозный (1 серия) (1944) фильм [online] At: https://youtu.be/igq6Is867Rw (Accessed 30.03.2020)