MOSCOW, 1925. In a forlorn theatre, with minimal acoustic support and without any publicity, a film is being exhibited once a day. Inside the theatre, there is hardly an attentive soul. None care for it outside either. Very soon, the film is taken out of theatres, marked to be shelved in the 'cinema morgue' a forgotten corner of Sovkino, the institution that bankrolled Soviet Cinema.
Same year. From Berlin to New York, critics and audiences freeze in awe and exasperation. Exactly when did cinema become so visceral? Who taught the young Kiev-born director how to make such eye-popping use of montage? When did this new art become a weapon? Was this history as cinema or was this cinema as history?
Early 40s. The Calcutta Film Society is at its infancy, even if its members include arch film critic Chidananda Dasgupta, and a very tall, and lanky young cinephile, whom his peers would refer to as 'orient longman'. It was Satyajit Ray. In a dingy, rented room, they decided to show, to a very handful of co-enthusiasts, an avant-garde specimen of cinema that is said to have embodied the Soviet situation, telling its story to the world. But before they could, the local police arrived. Of all films, why this one, they asked? Do you have any plans to trigger a revolution? The said film, in all three cases, is Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. In any discussion of cinema's potency for political mobilisation, it is the urtext. But let's not draw our conclusions too soon.
This story is from the April 21, 2024 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 21, 2024 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Lost In The Rat Race
The NEET exam is mired in multiple controversies. Will this medical entrance exam fiasco discourage future aspirants?
The Rise Of 'Ravan'
Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’, ‘The son of Saharanpur’, is raring to bring a new brand of Dalit-Bahujan politics to Parliament
Unquiet Flows The Tawi
The recent attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in Reasi district spotlights Jammu’s increased vulnerability to militancy
Rebel With a Cause
Congress rebel candidate Vishal Patil fights as an independent, defeats the BJP candidate and sitting MP by over one lakh votes and rejoins the Congress
Winds of Change
Ethnic questions and local dynamics make the Bharatiya Janata Party lose ground in the Northeast
The Giant Killer
The election campaign of Geniben Thakor, the lone Congress MP from Gujarat, was as impressive as her victory
Chak De Change
There is a new churning in Punjab politics and the Bharatiya Janata Party is diving in with an eye on the 2027 assembly election
Minority Mantra
The elevation of George Kurian, long serving Party functionary, to the Union cabinet is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ongoing “Christian project” in Kerala
Art of the Possible
Youngest Dalit MP Shambhavi Choudhary plans to focus on connectivity to schools, colleges and hospitals, women and jobs
Red Revival
On his way to the hallowed chamber of Parliament, OBC leader Sudama Prasad defeated a BJP stalwart in Arrah and ensured CPI-ML’s entry into Parliament after more than three decades