Synopsis

Starving people, a horse carcass hanging from a bridge, a defenceless Bolshevik brutally lynched by bourgeois women. With utterly shocking images, the Soviet filmmakers Sergei Eisenstein and Grigori Aleksandrov recapture the events leading to the 1917 October Revolution on the occasion of its centenary. The film spans the period starting from the overthrow of the Tsarist regime to the storming of the winter palace in Saint Petersburg. From a technical angle, it encompasses unusual camera settings, subtle cuts as well as Eisenstein’s special montage technique. Coupled with stirring music and an elaborate range of historically detailed scenes, those tools turn the documentary film into an aesthetic masterpiece. The work resembles an eyewitness account. The directors effectively use a technique involving unrelated objects which are juxtaposed to trigger specific associations. Their expertise proves beyond doubt that they are well-acquainted with the basics of psychology. When a scene features Aleksandr Kerensky, then leader of the interim government, striking a Napoleonic pose, the audience is confronted with the sheer emptiness pervading former state elites.

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Within the frame of the LET'S CEE FIlm Festival 2017, three legendary silent film classics from Central and Eastern Europe will be presented for the first time in Austria in digitally-restored quality at the cinema institution Breitenseer Lichtspiele. Gerhard Gruber, one of the best in his profession, will accompany the films live on the piano.