Battleship Potemkin as a Masterpiece
Battleship Potemkin, a masterpiece? Early critics reported this
marvellous film to be unquestionably one of the greatest motion
pictures ever made. However, would this display of dazzling, daring,
dramatic sequence grab the approval and praise of the modern day
society?
This so called ‘classic’, as regarded by an international film jury to
be the greatest film ever made, in 1948 and again in 1958, is now just
another film on the shelf for our generation. Is this because we have
all underestimated the film and overlooked its momentousness, or could
it be the fact that the film was just simply over-rated in the first
place?
If the film was re-rated today, I am certain that it would not have
the same success or praise. Our generation are up to date with the
modern technologies. Today’s films are jam-packed with special effects
but I’m afraid that Battleship Potemkin, the ‘masterpiece’, did not
have any special effect on me.
With only seeing a small section of the film, I personally don’t see
the attraction. Considering that Battleship Potemkin is twice champion
of the title ‘greatest film ever made’, I was greatly disappointed
with its content.
The film was initially meant to be all about the Russian Revolution in
1905, and the Potemkin scenario took up only a small section of the
script. Due to bad weather in Leningrad, the filming was delayed and
as days passed, the deadline drew nearer, so they were advised to go
south, to Odessa and work on a different section of the film until the
weather had cleared up. However, in being there, Eisenstein made major
alterations to the script to which eventually became ‘Battleship
Potemkin’.
In all fairness to the production, taking the last minute change to
the script into consideration, the outcome was adequate; however, it
is far from giving Charlie Chaplin a run for his money. The likes of
Alfred Hitchcock and Charlie Chaplin are what we would call, legends,
but I’m afraid ‘Battleship Potemkin’ is just unheard of.
Even though the films “Battleship Potemkin”, “From Here to Eternity” and “Saving Private Ryan” are all movies based on military life during war time the variation in time periods and culture made each film very different. These differences did not take away from the impact the films had on their audiences at the time or the messages they were each trying to covey. The Horrific images and hear wrenching scenarios helped to evoke strong emotions and patriotic feeling from audiences allowing film makers to pass along their truths. Thru these films we are magically transported to several dark periods in the world history and left to experience the pain, fear, isolation and ultimately the triumph of these soldiers’ lives.
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
In the 2001 cult movie The Royal Tenenbaums, directed by Wes Anderson, a seemingly abnormal family, through two decades of unfortunate events, reunites once again. One might watch this movie and infer that the Tenenbaum family's way of reuniting is obscure and most was done out of pure selfishness, but it actually is a representation of an American life. The movie begins with showing that at young ages all three Tenenbaum children found major success in their lives. Chas Tenenbaum creates a successful small business from breeding dalmatian mice, Richie Tenenbaum is a tennis prodigy, and their adopted daughter Margot Tenenbaum received grants from writing short plays. Soon after, the three children find themselves in a severe, post-success, midlife crises. As well as the father of the family, Royal Tenenbaum-who at the beginning of the movie, is portrayed as money leeching and a compulsive liar- produces an extravagant lie about having cancer to gain the sympathy from his former family. Through a series of unfortunate events the three children, and Royal, are all found staying at their childhood home with their mother, Etheline. Spiraling into an uncontrollable story of an absurd, deviant family, that beneath the surface is actually an accurate representation of the average American household.
Citizen Kane has earned the prestigious honor of being regarded as the number one movie of all time because of Welles’ groundbreaking narrative and plot structures that paved a path for the future of the film industry. Though critics have viewed the film with such prestige over the years, a present day viewer might encounter a great amount of confusion or difficulty as to why Citizen Kane is the number one movie on the American Film Institute’s top 100 movies of all time. Especially considering the modern day film industry, Welles’ production does not measure up to the amount of thrill and entertainment audiences experience today. Not even considering the possibilities with special effects and technology, Citizen Kane seems to lack an exciting plot that might involve some action or twists instead of the gossip of a man’s life that we no longer appreciate. In 1941, the general public could greatly appreciate the connections between Kane and William Randolph Hearst unlike young adults watching the film now.
Orson Welles’ production of Citizen Kane revolutionized film making by mastering the art of using cutting edge techniques to make it one of the most single revolutionary and groundbreaking films in the history of movies. Citizen Kane, released in 1941, is thought to be the single most revolutionary and groundbreaking film in the history of movies (Rotten Tomatoes). Welles used many techniques in the production of the film that were never even thought of before that point. In this way, the film Citizen Kane is an extremely innovative film and definitely pushes the limits of its genre at the time. Welles completely changed the course of the production of film by introducing a completely new way of writing, directing, and through his use of techniques.
than all the films that have came in prior to it in several ways. An
" Greatest Films - The Best Movies in Cinematic History. Tim Dirks, May 1996. Web. The Web. The Web.
Christie, Ian (1 August 2012). "The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Retrieved 12 May 2014
According to historians like Neil Burch, the primitive period of the film industry, at the turn of the 20th century was making films that appealed to their audiences due to the simple story. A non-fiction narrative, single shots a burgeoning sense
When deciding what movie to do for this particular paper I faced a few issues. I knew what the requirements were, but I wanted something different and something I could have fun watching and writing as well. So, after looking around and pondering movies for weeks I finally decided on a perfect choice The 60’s directed by Mark Piznarski?
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“The biggest mistake we have made is to consider that films are primarily a form of entertainment. The film is the greatest medium since the invention of movable type for exchanging ideas and information, and it is no more at its best in light entertainment than literature is at its best in the light novel.” - Orson Welles
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Every year new movies are released and I am always impressed the quality and effort put into making an effective