Screening of Battleship Potemkin by The Johannesburg Film Society

c.1980

(The original movie: 1925).

Silkscreen, by 'Sue'

This poster was produced by The Johannesburg Film Society for the screening of Battleship Potemkin, written and directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
The venue was The Piccadilly Cinema in Yeoville.
The poster depicts one of the civilians who has been shot in the eye by a Cossack soldier.

Battleship Potemkin is a 1925 Soviet silent film presenting a dramatized version of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against its officers.

Battleship Potemkin was named the greatest film of all time at the Brussels World's Fair in 1958. The British Film Institute named it the eleventh-greatest film of all time

"Eisenstein's theory of a performance as a series of shock-attractions was expanded out of the theatre into cinema, where it more logically belonged. The slaughter on the steps needed filming techniques as original as the new principles."

Act IV: The Odessa Steps (The inspiration for this poster).

The best-known sequence of the film is set on the Odessa steps, connecting the waterfront with the central city. The citizenry of Odessa take to their ships and boats, sailing out to the Potemkin to show their support to the sailors and donate supplies, while a crowd of others gather at the Odessa steps to witness the happenings and cheer on the rebels. Suddenly a detachment of dismounted Cossacks form battle lines at the top of the steps and march toward a crowd of unarmed civilians including women and children and begin firing and advancing with fixed bayonets. Every now and again, the soldiers halt to fire a volley into the crowd before continuing their impersonal, machine-like assault down the stairs, ignoring the people's pleas for humanity and understanding. Meanwhile, government cavalry attack the fleeing crowd at the bottom of the steps as well, cutting down many of those who survived the dismounted assault. Brief sequences show individuals among the people fleeing or falling, a baby carriage rolling down the steps, a woman shot in the face, broken glasses, and the high boots of the soldiers moving in unison.

In retaliation the sailors of the Potemkin decide to use the guns of the battleship to fire on the city opera house, where Tsarist military leaders are convening a meeting. Meanwhile, there is news that a squadron of loyal warships is coming to quell the revolt of the Potemkin.

510mm x 725mm

R1,250