Background
EISENSTEIN, Sergey was born on January 23, 1898 in Riga. Son of an architect.
EISENSTEIN, Sergey was born on January 23, 1898 in Riga. Son of an architect.
1916-1918 studied at Institute of Civil Engineer, Petrograd.
1917 volunteer in students’ popular militia unit 1918 joined Red Army. 1921-1924 designer and director
First Workers’ Proletkul’t Theater, Moscow. Here staged Meksikanets (The Mexican), Na vsyakogo mudretsa dovol’no prostoty (There’s a Simpleton in Every Sage), Moskva, slyshish’ (Moscow, Can You Hear?) and Protivogazy (Gas Masks). From 1924 film work; 1925 directed film Stachka (Strike), noted for its monumental crowd scenes, realistic episodes and sequences reflecting his absorption with formal experiments in means of cinematic expression.
One great creative triumph was his direction of Bronenosets Potyomkin (The Battleship Potemkin) (1925). The innovatory ideas in the film laid down new cinematographic forms for rhythmical montage, strict frame composition, drama and laconicism of crowd scenes combined with clarity and accuracy of detail. The film was a milestone in the development of the cinema.
Together with C. V. Aleksandrov directed Oktyabr’ (October) (1927) and Staroye i novoye (The Old and the New) (1929). 1929-1931 lived in United States of America, studied film production, worked on film Da zdravstvuyet Meksika! (Viva Mexico!) (unfinished). From 1932 head, Department of Direction, from 1937 professor, All-Union Slate Institute of Cinematography.