Strike; Toward The Dictatorship Of The Proletariat

1418. STRIKE (Toward the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat) (1924-USSR). Directed by SERGEI EISENSTEIN. Eisenstein, the legendary Soviet filmmaker, was one Of the silent cinema’s leading experimenters, inventors and theorists This film, the stirring chronicle Of a strike by factory workers in pre-revolutionary Russia and its brutal suppression by the authorities, was his first feature. It was initially intended as part Of an eight-episode epic, which would have recreated different historical events loading to the full-scale workers revolt. While this series was never completed, Strike remains nonetheless as an exemplary debut. It is highlighted by some graphically bold imagery and editing technique, as well as striking cinematography (by the talented cameraman EDWARD TISSE, who was to become the director Of photography on all Of EisensteinÕs projects). Among Strike’s many memorable sequences: the worÂkers convening in the factory; their bosses’ evening Of splendor, as they make light Of their employees’ demands; the various provocations Of the workers, including firemen turning hoses on them and mounted police savagely at tacking and killing them and their children; and the final massacre, intercut with shots Of cattle being slaughtered, A masterpiece! Titles in English and Russian. Silent film with Synchronized music score. 81 minutes. Eisenstein