05 December 2022
Author: Edgar Brutyan, Analyst
"I wish I had experienced a failure of such magnitude." [1]
In November 1927 Sergei Eisenstein's film "October" premiered at the Great Theater. However, only excerpts of the film were shown to the audience, and it wasn't until March 1928 that it appeared on screen in its entirety. The film was commissioned by the Communist Party to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution, also known as the Revolution by the Bolsheviks. Upon its release, the film received a great response both within the USSR and abroad. Mayakovsky praised it, saying, "It's good to have an alarm clock that is 1 hour late and costs millions." [2] Despite its early success, the film was strictly prohibited by the Central Committee after 1933. The censors declared the film, which depicted the most important event in Soviet history, to be anti-Soviet. Only after de-Stalinization, in connection with the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution, was the dubbed version of "October" able to return to the cinema world.
In this article, I will attempt to answer the questions that arise from reading the previous paragraph. Specifically, I will explore why only excerpts of the film were shown instead of the full version during the anniversary, whether the experienced director failed to calculate and arrive in time, why the nomenclature "October" was acceptable during the NEP period but not at the beginning of the Stalinist dictatorship, and why Pudovkin saw this "failure" as desirable.
"October" sets itself apart from other films on the same topic by not adhering strictly to the sequence and accuracy of historical reality. Time and space are depicted in a non-linear and unconventional way, which can be attributed to the ideological perspective of 1927, as well as the phenomenon of reflecting on the global state of affairs at that time [3]. For instance, the film shows the destruction of the statue of Alexander Messami at the start of the October Revolution, even though it was actually destroyed in 1918 and was not located at the epicentre of the events in Moscow. This alteration serves to portray the temporary government as a remnant of the monarchy, as required by the Central Committee. Additionally, the film interweaves the October coup with the February Revolution. This can be explained by the Bolshevik perspective, wherein they view the February Revolution as "bourgeois-democratic" and see October as its necessary culmination.
The movie "October"
Eisenstein appeases the interests of the ruling elite of that time by depicting Trotsky in the film. The original version of the movie included numerous scenes dedicated to the legend of the Russian Revolution. However, according to Grigory Alexandrov, these shots had to be removed from the film on Stalin's orders, which ultimately delayed its completion for the anniversary. In the subsequent version of the movie, there are no scenes featuring Lev Bronstein.
At that time, Trotsky and Stalin had a tense relationship, and as Stalin consolidated power, he sought to erase all traces of Trotsky from Soviet history.
Lenin was in Finland during the October coup, and the movement was effectively led by Trotsky. Thus, it is impossible to conceive of the October "Revolution" without him, and the omission of his role in the film is historically absurd [4]. Trotsky played a pivotal role in mobilizing the masses during the revolution. He created the Soviet army during the civil war and saved Petrograd from the attack of the White Guards in 1919 by bringing around panicked deserters. He was a leader during a critical time when peace was elusive, as he always sought out contradictions. He even militarized and presented agriculture as a front. This sphere was eventually taken away from him and given to the bureaucracy created by Trotsky's ideological opposite, Stalin. The latter was well aware that the 20th century was the century of bureaucracy, and whoever controlled the apparatus held power.
Stalin succeeded - in 1925, he removed Lev Trotsky, the founder of the Red Army, from his post as commander. This was followed by Trotsky's expulsion from the Central Committee in 1926, and his subsequent exile in 1927. Stalin went even further in 1929, depriving Trotsky of his Soviet citizenship and expelling him from the country. Finally, in 1940, Stalin had Trotsky killed in Mexico on his orders.
Not content with simply physically eliminating Trotsky, Stalin also sought to erase his memory from the USSR's history. He did this by retouching photographs and removing any evidence of Trotsky's involvement in the October Revolution.
Therefore, the whip, once wielded by the Russian emperors, eventually fell into the hands of Stalin. This was foretold by Eisenstein in his 1927 film, "The Law of the Persistence of the Revolution," which we will discuss in greater detail below.
The movie "October"
When analyzing "October," it is important to consider that the film was produced during the NEP [5] period. The central paradox of NEP society is that, while an individual's class identity is fragile, it carries significant social and political weight [6].
After the Bolsheviks took the Winter Palace in 1917, a dilemma arose among individuals with different ideologies who were united under the slogan "All Power to the Soviets" in the heart of the RSDLP. This dilemma centered on how to behave when the largest social class in Russia was not the worker, but the peasant. What did the word "proletariat" mean in this current situation, and what determined their consciousness?
Completing the task at hand was not as easy as many had thought. It was not possible to mobilize the masses and establish the "dictatorship of the proletariat" solely through street demonstrations and theoretical reasoning. There was a risk that another failed revolution could end in the same collapse as many revolutionary movements before it [7].
Following the Civil War, many individuals falsified their biographies, which eroded trust in the country. Moreover, there were concerns related to NEP, and many within the party and the Third Comintern questioned whether this measure signaled a turn to capitalism. In such conditions, new determinants of the proletariat needed to be defined, and party membership and commitment to the revolution became the foremost factors [8].
To define a Soviet identity, the Bolsheviks employed the ancient method of opposition and contrast, using the aristocracy as a backdrop.
Eisenstein's "October" masterfully depicts the aristocracy as a brutal, oppressive class, and he does so with a clear purpose. Throughout the film, only one person is outright murdered, and it is by the hands of the aristocracy. After the young worker is stoned to death, the princes and their wives laugh in a disturbingly beautiful manner, showcasing their black teeth and evoking images of the devil and evil in the audience. Eisenstein skillfully uses cinema to affect the subconscious of uneducated masses, using a new art form to do so.
The film emphasizes the pathos of the February revolution more than that of the October Revolution. The faces and symbols that the proletariat tramples and destroys all come from the time of tsarist Russia, showcasing the immense struggle of the proletariat against the old regime. The capture of the Winter Palace is portrayed more like the capture of the Bastille, the bastion of autocracy, rather than the building of the Provisional Government. [9]
Eisenstein's depiction in "October" focuses on only one aspect of reality - the white terror. However, it is worth noting that on July 7, 1927, nationalist Boris Koverda killed Piotr Voikov, who was suspected of exterminating the Romanovs, which then led to the USSR's response with the red terror, killing 20 nobles [10]. Although Eisenstein could not show this fact directly in his film, the skilled director still manages to criticize the existing regime through complex allegories.
The movie "October"
Another plotline in "October" focuses on the rise of the masses. Despite communist philosophy emphasizing the importance of the masses, the film does not present them as the main protagonists. However, this is reflective of the world's trends at that time. Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset accurately noted the danger that art would face in conditions where the masses were on the rise. The masses, who had always been in the background, suddenly became the main focus. Workers who had never received any theatrical education or dreamed of acting, had become the characters of Eisenstein's film. As a result, people were changed by the mass, and the soul by the class, leading to a universal standardization.
During this period, the famous architect Le Corbusier published a work discussing the standardization of architecture, reflecting the larger trend towards standardization.
Le Corbusier believed that architecture should be accessible to all people, with standardization being its most important aspect. This reflected the larger trend towards universal standardization, which was also expressed in Spengler's "Daisy of Europe". This feeling of cultural decline was exemplified by the Bauhaus (1919) in Weimar, a building which has been stripped of its decorations like Nikandrov, who bears no trace of its leader, Lenin. Some critics saw the decision to give the role of leader to an ordinary, unskilled worker based solely on his appearance as ironic, unprofessional [11], or the birth of a new cinema [12]. Regardless, Eisenstein was not interested in individual personalities; for him, Lenin, Kerensky, Stalin, and the Russian "tsar" all represented the same idea - despotism.
Therefore, we can conclude that Soviet cinematography, represented by Eisenstein and others in the 1920s, served the interests of the nomenklatura, despite some criticism of the existing regime. High-ranking officials and both local and foreign magazines praised "October": the French newspaper "Figaro" called it a "poem of magnificent associations and memories," the "Workers' Side" deemed it "the greatest victory of socialist culture," and "Tverskaya Pravda" hailed it as "a classic of world cinema." [13] However, despite the positive reception, the film was soon categorically banned in 1933 after the repeal of the New Economic Policy in 1929. What metaphorical idea did Eisenstein embed in "October" that Stalin disliked so much, even though he allowed the director to continue his work?
In 1927, Eisenstein already saw the obvious results of the revolution and predicted the near future of the USSR with his film. John Reed, who was in the middle of the storm, asked, "Under the gloomy sky, the cold and rainy Weber-like city was moving fast... Where would you like to go?" He knew the answer to this question [14].
The movie "October"
Eisenstein begins his film with a metaphorical image: "The king is dead, long live the king." [15] He transforms the crowd of workers and peasants into a huge statue of Alexander III. Later, the same mob would lift the "new tsar," Lenin, to the podium, replacing the old form of despotism, tsarism, with a new form, socialism. This type of revolution is a universal phenomenon seen throughout history. In 1776, the Americans replaced the statue of George III with their Declaration of Independence, and during the French Revolution, the French nation installed a guillotine in place of the statue of Louis XV, thus proclaiming the main message of the revolution - "Revolution eats its own children." The creators of the February revolution soon became the victims of October, and the authors of the October coup fell victim to the Stalinist regime, a kind of "formless revolution."
Eisenstein uses metaphors in his film to indicate the last danger to the audience. Comparing Kerensky and Kornilov to Napoleon, he suggests that the leaders of the Provisional Government are inclined towards despotic power. In the film, Kerensky's climb up the stairs of the Winter Palace is presented as one of the longest sequences, as he ascends three flights of stairs. The use of new editing techniques creates the illusion that Kerensky is climbing high and striving for glory, separate from the common people. Eisenstein compares Kerensky to a peacock, a bird associated with arrogance in Greek mythology, which is a detail of the imperial clock counting the days of despotism. In the end, the little statue of Napoleon shakes its head, and the Winter Palace falls, indicating that Eisenstein is targeting Stalin as the main antagonist. At that time, Trotsky publicly condemned Stalin's form of government and referred to it as "Bonapartist".
The movie "October"
In his 1923 essay "On Literature, Revolution, Entropy and Other Matters," Zamyatin argues that "you cannot talk about the final revolution, just as you cannot name the last, last number." [16] Eisenstein similarly explores this idea in his film, observing that the overthrow of one despot through revolution is often followed by the rise of another, ad infinitum. Eisenstein conveys this message by first toppling the statue of Alexander III and then magically restoring it. While he depicts the overthrow of one despotism in St. Petersburg, another despotism in the form of Stalin is simultaneously rising in Moscow, though this may have been difficult for the proletariat to discern.
This explains why the masses were only dissatisfied with the excessive use of "insignificant" details in the film. Balad knew the significance of these metaphors, which is why he banned the film after consolidating his power. Eisenstein, once again, complied with the demands of the time and replaced the real future despot, Stalin, with a peasant's son on the Russian imperial throne at the end of the film, thus fulfilling the people's demand for the establishment of a "dictatorship of the proletariat". Looking at it from today's perspective, it is challenging to fathom just how significant the October Revolution truly was - for millions of people, it was akin to the second coming. The communist slogans of "peace, bread, and land" were the very things that the proletariat desired most. Eisenstein himself credited the revolution with providing him with wings in his profession - as he recounts in his memoirs, October had given him wings. Nevertheless, Stalin would soon clip his wings and those of other talented artists. A year after the film's ban, in 1934, "socialist realism" was established as the main method of art at the Union of Soviet Writers' meeting, announced by Joseph Stalin and subsequently legalized as an alternative genre of literature. [17]
Since 1932, writers in the Soviet Union were no longer perceived as independent individuals; their aspirations no longer mattered, and they had to be motivated by political processes [18]. "October" heralded this imminent and real danger to the public. While the film was intended to be a grand celebration of the People's Revolution, it actually marked its end, the end of the "Nepmans". As Steward Liebman notes, it was "the most heartbreaking, sad" (the "most dispiriting") in the history of film [19]. However, this also marked the beginning of a new era. The film's most memorable episode depicted the raising of the bridges that had separated the ruling class from the people.
When an American journalist once asked Eisenstein who had written the script for the film, the director replied without hesitation: "The Party!" However, the only aspect of the film that truly belongs to Eisenstein, and for which it is regarded highly today, is his innovative and intelligent approach to film editing, which he referred to as "cinematic language" in his writings on "cinematic dramaturgy". The film itself, made about a revolution, became revolutionary in its own right. The intricate system of metaphors elevated cinema to a new level and transformed it into a powerful tool for propaganda, expressing opinions and influencing the masses - a technique that is still widely used today.
Eisenstein's knowledge of Japanese hieroglyphs sparked numerous associations in the director's mind. In his article "Behind the Frame," Eisenstein explains that a hieroglyph is not simply a mechanical combination of its determinants, but rather a new form that emerges from their combination, standing on a different level and in a different dimension. For instance, the combination of "dog" and "mouth" creates the idea of barking, while "eye" and "water" bring forth the notion of crying, and "heart" and "knife" evoke sorrow, and so on. Eisenstein uses this technique to stimulate associations in viewers' minds that cannot be represented graphically.
However, Eisenstein's approach was deemed too "formalistic" by the authorities, who cited this as the reason for banning his film. Despite this setback, Eisenstein's status as a renowned Jewish intellectual prevented him from being completely silenced, as he was recognized and respected worldwide. Stalin himself did not seem to mind such people.
As we have seen, Sergei Eisenstein's film "October" served both the needs of the party and the requirements of the time while also directly criticizing Stalin through the innovative language of cinema - montage. However, it was precisely this dual content and nature of the film that led to its failure, making it the biggest flop in the history of Soviet cinema.
References:
1. Fitzpatrick: Chapter 3 - "Class identities in NEP Society", p. 53, 69
2. Yevgeny Zamyatin - A Soviet Heretic_ Essays-The University of Chicago Press (1970), pp. 107
3. Boris Groys, The Total Art of Stalinism (New Jersy: Prinston University Press, 1992) pp. 36
4. Donald Rayfield, The Literature of Georgia: A History (London and New York: Routledge, 2000) pp. 262
5. TIME - რუსეთის რევოლუცია და სსრკ, გვ. 44
6. Шкловский В. За 60 лет. Работы о кино. М.: Искусство, 1985. С. 188.
7. Bernd Reinhardt, Sergei Eisenstein’s October: a monumental work, article (10 March 2012)https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/03/ber4-m10.html
8. Shari Kizirian, 1927: October (Sergei Eisenstein) http://sensesofcinema.com/2017/soviet-cinema/1927-october-sergei-eisenstein/
9. Murray Sperber, Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, 1977, pp. 15-44,http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC14folder/October.html
10. https://1tv.ge/video/khanmokle-xx-saukune-1926/
11. Провинциальная пресса о фильме «Октябрь» // Кино. Еженедельная газета ОДСК. 1928. 10 апреля.https://chapaev.media/articles/4372
12. Frankfurter Zeitung, 1928, 5. Juni. https://chapaev.media/articles/4386
13. Жан-Клод Конеса, «Октябрь»: кризис изображения, http://www.kinozapiski.ru/ru/article/sendvalues/583/
14. Крупская Н. О фильме «Октябрь» // Правда. 1928. 9 февраля. https://chapaev.media/articles/4382
15. В. Маяковский о кино // Кино. 1927. № 45. 7 ноября. https://chapaev.media/articles/4392
Notes:
[1] According to Pudovkin's assessment (Шкловский В. За 60 лет. Работы о кино. М.: Искусство, 1985. С. 188). To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the October coup, the Communist Party tasked four directors with creating a film. The four directors were Barnett, who made "Moscow in October," Pudovkin, who directed "The End of St. Petersburg," Shuby, who created "The Great Road," and Eisenstein, who directed "October." Out of the four films, only Eisenstein's "October" proved to be successful.
[2] «Хорош будильник, который на час опаздывает и стоит на миллион дороже». (https://chapaev.media/articles/4195 (Ковалов О. Юбилейное // Сеанс. 2013. № 55–56)
[3] During the 1920s, significant developments in physics, philosophy, and literature revolved around the question of time. The physicist Heisenberg formulated the "uncertainty principle," the philosopher Heidegger published "Being and Time," and the writer Proust completed his epic "Search for Lost Time" with the book "Time Regained." Each of these works explores the nature of time and rejects the notion that time is a uniform, empty vessel that can be filled with facts. Instead, they all suggest that time is complex and varied.
[4] it is interesting to note that both Trotsky and Stalin were born in the year 1879. However, Trotsky's birth date on October 26th coincides with the day of the revolution, which has led historians to often refer to him as the demon of the revolution.
[5] The "New Economic Policy" (NEP) enabled the USSR to overcome the most acute phase of the economic crisis in the 1920s.
[6] Fitzpatrick: Chapter 3 - "Class identities in NEP Society", pp. 69
[7] Dissatisfaction arose among the supporters of the Bolsheviks during the civil war, as evidenced by the 1919 uprising of the Kronstadt garrison. The sailors of the fleet chanted the slogan "Soviet without Bolshevism." TIME - Russian Revolution and USSR, p. 44
[8] Shari Kizirian, 1927: October (Sergei Eisenstein) http://sensesofcinema.com/2017/soviet-cinema/1927-october-sergei-eisenstein/
[9] In reality, the main entrance to the Winter Palace was actually open during the coup. However, in the film, it is intentionally depicted as closed so that a common worker can symbolically place his boot on the imperial crown as he moves through it.
[10] Proust's "Returned Time" focuses on the decline of the aristocracy in Europe after World War I, and the consequent disappearance of free time. The aristocracy, which was once the most prominent social class, was replaced by the service class. This change was exemplified most clearly in the USSR.
[11] Mayakovsky's assessment: http://www.kinozapiski.ru/ru/article/sendvalues/583/ https://chapaev.media/articles/4392
[12] Nadezhda Krupskaya's assessment of the birth of new cinema: https://chapaev.media/articles/4382
[13] Assessment of magazines and newspapers: https://chapaev.media/articles/4372 https://chapaev.media/articles/4386
[14] The author of the book "Ten days that shook the world" was the inspiration for Eisenstein's film "October", and initially, the film was named after the book.
[15] Fr. Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi! This phrase has its roots in medieval France and was traditionally used to announce a new monarch's ascension in European countries.
[16] Yevgeny Zamyatin - A Soviet Heretic_ Essays-The University of Chicago Press (1970), pp. 107
[17] Boris Groys, The Total Art of Stalinism (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992) pp. 36
[18] Donald Rayfled, The Literature of Georgia: A History (London and New York: Routledge, 2000) pp. 262
[19] http://sensesofcinema.com/2017/soviet-cinema/1927-october-sergei-eisenstein/
