Oktyabr (1928)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

Grigori Aleksandrov
Sergei M. Eisenstein

Writers:

John Reed (book) and
Grigori Aleksandrov (writer)

Release Date:

20 January 1928 (Soviet Union)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

In documentary style, events in Petrograd are re-enacted from the end of the monarchy in February of...

Plot Keywords:

Menshevik | Counter Revolutionary | Petrograd | Historic Figure | Capitalism

Cast

Vladimir Popov	...	Aleksandr Kerensky
Vasili Nikandrov	...	V.I. Lenin
Layaschenko	...	Konovalov
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chibisov	...	Skobolev
Boris Livanov	...	Terestsenko
Mikholyev	...	Kishkin
N. Podvoisky	...	Bolshevik
Smelsky	...	Verderevsky
Eduard Tisse	...	German Soldier

Also Known As:

Октябрь (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Ten Days That Shook the World (USA)

Runtime:

Finland:103 min | Sweden:104 min | USA:95 min | Finland:142 min (2007 restored version) | 127 min (20 fps)

Country:

Soviet Union

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Canada:G (Ontario) | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-12 (1965) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Sovkino

Trivia:

The filming of the assault on the Winter Palace required 11,000 extras, and the lighting needs left the rest of the city blacked out.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Das Goebbels-Experiment (2005)

Political Idealogy

Fascinating Russian silent feature which is interested in the final moments of the Russian Revolution which brought the Communist to power. Film was part of a series involving Revolutions and protests which included Strike(1924) and Battleship Potemkin(1925). Interestingly, film puts a lot of the attention of Trotsky than Lenin. He(Trotsky) is portrayed as one of the heros of the revolution as well as a great Russian figure. Striking use of montage helps give the film its artistic flavor. One of the ten Russian silent films from the 1920s. Acting is nothing special yet gains the viewer's attention with the passion and emotion eched on by the performers. Was not popular with the Stalin regime because of the popular depiction of Trotsky. The beginning of a battle of censorship between Eisenstein and Stalin which resulted in disfavor for the Soviet filmmaker in late 1940s. Scenes that involved Trotsky who after all was Stalin's enemy were cut from the picture. These scenes with Trotsky were later restored years after the death of Stalin. Sergei M Eisenstein was fortunate not to be part of the people including artists who were arrested and either excuted or serve long jail terms during the 1930s for mentioning the name of Trotsky. Eisenstein was a genius at puting together a film and understanding the importance of images to fit a theme. After making this film he made an attempt to make it in Hollywood which didn't pan out. He had trouble getting projects green lighted possibly to the fact that Sergei wanted to make his own films, his way and the studios wouldn't not let him do it. I find it amazing at how many great foreign filmmakers who failed finding a niche in Hollywood because of their refusal to do what the studios want. A poginolty directed motion picture with a breathtaking moment in the taking of the big palace. Some of the film's ideas are also present in Alexander Nevsky(1938). It builds on motifs and themes that were disscussed in Strike(1924). From 1927 onward, Sergei M Eisenstein would only make a handfull of films. Oktyabr/October(1924) is a masterful protrayal of a period in Russian which lead to bad times contary to hopes of many Soviet revolutionaries.