115 Years Ago, Sergei Eisenstein Was Born: A Renowned Soviet Film Director, Screenwriter, and Film Theorist2 photos

Eisenstein's background. He received a thorough and well-rounded education; he spoke several Western European languages, had a deep knowledge of Russian and world literature, and was interested in theater and painting. In 1915, he enrolled at the Institute of Civil Engineers in Petrograd. He supported the October Revolution of 1917 and joined the student militia unit. In 1918, he left his third-year studies at the institute to enlist voluntarily in the Red Army, where he served as a propaganda artist and directed amateur theater productions. In 1920, he was sent to study at the Eastern Languages Department of the General Staff Academy but did not become a military translator. Instead, he took a job at the Proletcult Theater, with the ambition of becoming a pioneer in new revolutionary art.

Soon after, Eisenstein became close friends with Mayakovsky, Meyerhold, and other "left-leaning" artists. Realizing the immense potential of film as an artistic medium, he soon created his first true feature film, "Stachka," demonstrating his mastery of metaphor, editing, and rhythm. In 1925, he directed "Battleship Potemkin," which was released in 1926 and became a worldwide cinematic masterpiece. This film established Eisenstein as a pioneer of new cinema art. He also developed the theory of "intellectual cinema," which argued that by refining the language of cinema, it was possible for audiences to gain not only visual but also intellectual insights.

Eisenstein foresaw the technical future of sound film.

In 1938, he directed the award-winning film "Alexander Nevsky." In the second half of the 1940s, he filmed "Ivan the Terrible," with the first series (1945), which celebrated the idea of national greatness, winning the Stalin Prize. However, the second series was never released due to the authorities' disapproval of the director's approach. In February 1947, a meeting between Stalin, Molotov, and Zhdanov with Eisenstein and actor Cherkasov led to revisions of the second series. Nevertheless, the great director's health declined, and he passed away on February 11, 1948.