Sergei M. Eisenstein [1898-1948] Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was born 23 January 1898 in Riga, Latvia. He attended college in Petrograd, and after the Revolution served as an engineer for the Red Army. He joined the Proletkult Theater in Moscow, working as set designer and later as director. As one of the founders of the V.G.I.K. film school (September 1919, the world's oldest) in Moscow, he helped define its basic training methods.
His first films were successful, and brought him worldwide acclaim. But the requirements of the Soviet studio system caused conflict with his artistic vision. He wrote extensively about his theory of 'montage of attractions' (an expansion of his theater mentor Vsevolod Meyerhold's concept of 'bio-mechanics'), with major impact on filmmakers around the world, but was also forced to publish articles of self-criticism in order to seem to be toeing the Communist line.

The silent films "Strike" [1925], "The Battleship Potemkin" [1925], and "October" [1928] are still studied today for the brilliance of the camera work and the editing. During the time of the conversion to sound, Eisenstein produced only fragments; he traveled to Germany and met Fritz Lang; Eisenstein's first sound film was the abstract short "Romance Senti- mentale" [France 1930]. He met American studio head Jesse Lasky in Paris and was offered a contract at Paramount. Eisenstein and his team arrived in Hollywood in May 1930, but 'creative differences' ended the contract. (There was also much pressure by anti-Communist fearmongers, such as Maj. Frank Pease.) Paramount provided return tickets to Moscow, but Eisenstein did not want to return to Russia a failure. An introduction to novelist & muckraker Upton Sinclair proved compatible, and Eisenstein was given funding for a 4-month film shoot in Mexico.
Eisenstein's improvisational methods in Mexico drove the Hollywood watchdog (Sinclair's brother-in-law) crazy, much footage was produced with no continuity, and Sinclair shut production of "¡Qué Viva México!" down. Eisenstein and his team returned to Moscow. Although outwardly uncaring about the future of the film, he seems to have taken the matter hard, and spent some time in a mental hospital in 1933.

He married Pera Atasheva in October 1934. Work on the propaganda film "Bezhin Meadow" in 1935 thru 1937 produced footage that made the authorities unhappy, and the film was shelved (and later destroyed in bombing during World War II). Dictator Stalin decided that the problems in the Soviet film industry were the fault of Cinema Commissar Boris Shumyatsky, who was tried for spying and executed. Eisenstein found favor with Stalin and was allowed to film "Alexander Nevsky"
[1938], a critical and dialectical success – Stalin's intention to promote 'heroes of the Soviet' was fulfilled. (Stalin's pact with Hitler halted distribution for a time.)
Most of the filmmakers in Moscow were evacuated to the Alma Ata Studios in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Eisenstein's subsequent three-part "Ivan The Terrible" project did not go well: The first film (1944) was a success, but the second {finished in 1946) was a little too accurate, and Stalin did not like the emphasis on secret police and executions. "Ivan II" was shelved until after Stalin's death. While work was begun on "Ivan III", Stalin confiscated all negatives and prints, and only a few minutes of that film exist today.

Sergei Eisenstein suffered a brain hemorrhage at age 50, and died 11 February 1948; he is buried in Moscow.
Books of Eisenstein's film theory articles and essays remain in print and in use in every film school; an international project has gathered all elements of the "¡Qué Viva México!" project for restoration on digital editing machines.

"Dnevnik Glumova" aka "Glumov's Diary"
[Russia 1923 silent short]
Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein; video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"The General Line" aka "Old and New" {Staroye i novoye}
[Russia/Sovkino Nov 1929, USA May 1930]
The film's story has a pro-Soviet propagandist slant, but the images are superb Co-written & co-directed by
Grigori Aleksandrov & Sergei M. Eisenstein; video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Romance Sentimentale" short film [France Sept 1930]

cropped still from Eisenstein's "Romance Sentimentale"

Described as surrealistic or avant garde or experimental, this short abstract film was commissioned by the husband of the main actress. Eisenstein's involvement seems to be in the creation of the 'contrapuntal' sound track, and is the first sound film made by Soviets.
Co-written & co-directed by Grigori Aleksandrov & Sergei M. Eisenstein; starring Mara Griy
available on the same DVD as "¡Que Viva México!" [1979] (below)
full credits from IMDb

"Frauennot - Frauenglück" aka "Misery and Fortune of Woman" short film
[Switzerland/Germany 1930; sound version 1936]
Directed by Eisenstein's cameraman Eduard Tisse; written by Grigori Aleksandrov; co-edited by Sergei M. Eisenstein
available on the same DVD as "¡Que Viva México!" [1979] (below); full credits from IMDb

"¡ Qué Viva México !"
[unfinished; Mexican Picture Trust 1930-32]

            Charlie Chaplin introduced Eisenstein to novelist Upton Sinclair, who in late 1930 formed a partnership (with Sinclair's wife and 3 others) named the Mexican Picture Trust to back Eisenstien's new project. Eisenstein had no script, and Mexico's right-wing government insisted on total approval (exposed film was shipped to Hollywood, developed & printed, and then shipped back to Mexico where the authorities sat on it). Eisenstein kept filming past the deadline of his contract, and by then had only lots of silent footage and a vague six-part synopsis. When Stalin applied pressure for the Russian crew to return from Mexico, Sinclair shut down the production; Eisenstein's team was told to cobble a film together from the existing footage, and Sinclair's line-producer brother-in-law was ordered to come home with all the film.
            The Russians were blocked for a time from crossing the border at Laredo, then took the scenic route to New York before leaving for Russia. Sinclair agreed to post-production in Moscow, but the Russian government insisted that Sinclair pay all costs as well as sending the negative to Russia; Sinclair and the Trust balked. (Another version has the Russians thwarting Sinclair's plans.) In 1932, the Trust brought in New York producer Sol Lesser and his Principal Distributing Corp. to make something from the miles of film, and the result was three films – "Thunder Over Mexico" [1933], "Eisenstein In Mexico" [1933], and the short "Death Day" [1934] – that did not recoup expenses at the box office.
            In 1979, assistant director Grigori Aleksandrov edited a version 'following Eisenstein's original plan' that recovered three segments called "Sandunga", "Fiesta", and "Maguey", but not the first & final segments "Conquest" & "Soldadera". Since then, filmmaker-historian Lutz Becker and producer Felix von Moreau have gathered rare materials from around the world – from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the National Film Archive in London, and others – for a digital restoration; their Mexican Picture Partnership Ltd. company has posted detailed information at the restoration website.

"Thunder Over Mexico" feature [M.F.T./P.D.C. Sept 1933]
A violent tale excerpted from Eisenstein's "Qué Viva México" footage
Post-production by Sol Lesser; starring Martín Hernández, Isabel Villaseñor, Félix Balderas & Julio Saldívar
video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Eisenstein In Mexico" feature [M.F.T./P.D.C. Oct 1933]
Post-production by Sol Lesser; video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Death Day" short [M.F.T./P.D.C. June 1934]
Post-production by Sol Lesser; video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Time In The Sun" [Mexican Film Trust Sept 1940]
55-minute travelogue excerpted from Eisenstein's "Qué Viva México" footage
Co-written & post-production by biographer Marie Seton; video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Bezhin Meadow" [unfinished, destroyed; 1935-37]

Stalinist propaganda, loosely based on a story by Ivan Turgenev, about a martyred member of the Young Pioneers: A young boy denounces his father for opposing the state (maybe) and is killed by members of his family. Production was halted after two years; the government (and especially Cinema Commissar Boris Shumyatsky) ruled that Eisenstein's context was good vs. evil rather than the socialist class struggle. The negatives & prints were destroyed during bombing raids in World War II. Co-written & directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein; starring Viktor Kartashov
{ virtually no footage exists } • full credits from IMDb • entry about the film at Wikipedia

"Ivan The Terrible, Part I"
[filmed in 1942-44; released in Russia Dec 1944, in USA March 1947]

In 1547, Archduke Ivan Grozny crowns himself the first Tsar of All Russia and marries Anastasia Romanovna, then declares war on rebellious Kazan and conquers the city. When Ivan falls seriously ill, he asks his family to swear allegiance to his infant son Dmitri, but they align with nephew Vladimir instead. Ivan survives the illness, but Prince Kurbsky defects to Livonia, and the Tsarina is poisoned. Ivan abdicates and leaves Moscow, but the people demand his return, and his triumph is to then rule absolutely by the will of the people. Written & directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein; music by Sergei Prokofiev; starring Nikolai Cherkasov, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Mikhail Nazvanov & Amvrosi Buchma
Image Ent. b&w DVD [10/98] for $21.99
Kultur Video b&w VHS [6/95] out of print/used
Homevision b&w VHS [6/2000] out of print/used
full credits from IMDb

"Ivan The Terrible, Part II"
[Russia; filmed in 1946, released in 1958]

Ivan returns to Moscow, and the boyars scheme to bring him down. Ivan discovers a plot to assassinate him, and manipulates events so that the intended successor (nephew Vladimir) is killed in his place. Ivan sentences the plotters to death and then directs his attention to further unification of Russia. Two sequences filmed in red-blue BiColor; unreleased until after Stalin's death; the film was restored in 1987. Co-produced, written & co-directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein; music by Sergei Prokofiev; starring Nikolai Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Pavel Kadochnikov, Mikhail Kuznetsov, Andrei Abrikosov, Vladimir Balashov & Mikhail Nazvanov
Image Ent. part-color DVD [10/98] for $21.99
Kultur Video part-color VHS [6/95] out of print/used
Homevision subtitled part-color VHS [6/2000] out of print/used
full credits from IMDb

"Ivan The Terrible, Part III" [Russia; unfinished 1946]
The negatives & prints were confiscated by Stalin, and only 4+ minutes still exist.
full credits from IMDb

"Sergei Eisenstein" documentary short [Russia 1958]
Directed by V. Katania; video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Eisenstein In Guanajuato" [Submarine NL 2015]

Eisenstein In Guanajuato by Peter Greenaway

Biofilm by British director Peter Greenaway about Sergei Eisenstein’s stay in Mexico back in 1930; announced 7/2012 with intention to shoot in Mexico during November & December, release in 2013 •
Written & directed by Peter Greenaway; cinematography by Reinier van Brummelen; starring Elmer Bäck, Luis Alberti, Maya Zapata, Lisa Owen, Stelio Savante, Rasmus Slätis, Jakob Öhrman, Alan Del Castillo & Raino Ranta
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available
latest info at IMDb • producer's movie page • watch official trailer [1:42] online at Vimeo

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	"The Film Sense" [1942; Harcourt, Brace 1947] by Sergei M. Eisenstein, translated by Jay Leyda Harcourt 7¾x5¼ pb [6/69] for $11.56 Faber & Faber 7½x5 pb [6/86] for $23.83
	"Notes of A Film Director" [1944] by Sergei M. Eisenstein Fredonia Books 9x5¾ pb [4/2003] for $29.95 Dover 8½x6½ pb [6/70] out of print/used
	"Film Form: Essays In Film Theory, 1928-1945" [1948] by Sergei M. Eisenstein, translated by Jay Leyda Harvest Books 8¼c5½ pb [3/69] for $11.56 Harcourt, Brace hardcover [1949] out of print/scarce
	"Film Essays and A Lecture" [1968] by Sergei M. Eisenstein Praeger hardcover [1/70] out of print/used
	"Problems of Film Direction" [undated] by Sergei M. Eisenstein University Press of the Pacific 8¾x6 pb [6/2004] for $22.50
	"Nonindifferent Nature: Film and The Structure of Things" [1988] by Sergei Eisenstein, translated by Herbert Marshall Cambridge Univ Press 9x6¼ hardcover [4/88] out of print/used
	"S.M. Eisenstein, Volume I: Selected Writings, 1922-1934" [1988] Edited & translated by Richard Taylor Indiana Univ Press 9¾x6½ hardcover [3/88] out of print/used British Film Institute 9¼x6 hardcover [1/2006] for $37.74 "S.M. Eisenstein, Volume II: Towards A Theory of Montage" [1992] Edited by Michael Glenny & Richard Taylor British Film Institute 9¼x6¼ pb [12/94] out of print/used "S.M. Eisenstein, Volume III: Selected Writings, 1934-1947" [1996] Edited by Richard Taylor British Film Institute 9½x6¼ pb [9/96] out of print/used "S.M. Eisenstein, Volume IV: Beyond The Stars - The Memoirs of Sergei Eisenstein" [1995?] Edited by Richard Taylor, translated by William Powell Seagull India hardcover [1/95] out of print/used
	"The Eisenstein Reader" [1998] Edited by Richard Taylor British Film Institute 9¼x6 pb [12/98] out of print/used
	"The Eisenstein Collection" [26 essays; 2006] by Sergei Eisenstein, edited by Richard Taylor Seagull Books 9½x6¼ pb [3/2006] for $34.20

	"Eisenstein, Cinema, and History" [1993] by James Goodwin Univ IL Press 9x6¼ pb [2/93] out of print/used Univ IL Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [2/93] for $39.95
	"Eisenstein Rediscovered: Soviet Cinema of The '20s & '30s" [1993] Edited by Ian Christie & Richard Taylor Routledge 9¼x6½ pb [6/93] for $140.00 [sic]
	"Sergei Eisenstein: Autobiography" documentary [Russia 1996] Adapted & directed by Oleg Kovalov, based on writings of Sergei M. Eisenstein Image Ent. b&w/color DVD [5/2000] for $21.99 full credits at IMDb
	"The Secret Life of Sergei Eisenstein" [indep 1987] Uses photographs, movies & writings of Sergei Eisnstein to cover his early success as an artist, his major films, and his 'world tour' meeting & working with leading film-makers, writers & personalities including Albert Einstein, James Joyce, D.W. Griffith and Walt Disney. 60-minute docufilm produced, written & directed by Gian Carlo Bertelli; narrated by Juan Antonio Gálvez {Spanish} & by Paul Vaughan {English} Resolution /Mystic Fire Video color VHS [10/90] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb
	"Sergei Eisenstein: A Life In Conflict" [1998] by Ronald Bergan Overlook 9¼x6½ pb [4/99] for $24.90 Little, Brown 9¼x6¼ hardcover [5/98] out of print/used
	"Eisenstein At 100: A Reconsideration" [2001] by Albert Lavalley & Barry P. Scherr Rutgers Univ Press 9¼x6 pb [4/2002] for $25.00 Rutgers Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [8/2001] for $60.00
	"Sergei Eisenstein: A Biography" [2001] by Oksana Bulgakowa, translated by Anne Dwyer Potemkin Press 9x6 pb [2/2002] for $25.00 Potemkin Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [11/2001] for $35.00
	"Eisenstein" [indep Jan 2002] Inaccurate but compelling dramatic film across thirty years of Eisenstein's career and life Written & directed by Renny Bartlett; starring Simon McBurney, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jonathan Hyde, Raymond Coulthard indep DVD [undated] for $26.95 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia
	"Savage Junctures: Sergei Eisenstein & The Shape of Thinking" [2003] by Anne Nesbet I.B. Tauris 9x6 pb [8/2007] for $28.95 I.B. Tauris 9¾x6 hardcover pb [9/2003] out of print/used
	"Art By Film Directors" [2004] by Karl French includes chapters on Charlie Chaplin, Jean Cocteau, Sergei Eisenstein, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, Peter Greenaway, Alfred Hitchcock, Dennis Hopper, John Huston, Takeshi Kitano, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Fritz Lang, Alan Parker, Gordon Parks, Satyajit Ray, Martin Scorsese, Josef von Sternberg, Wim Wenders, and others Mitchell Beazley 11½x9½ hardcover [11/2004] for $30.40
	"Sergei Eisenstein (Critical Lives Series)" [2008] by Mike O'Mahony Reaktion Books pb [4/2008] for $11.53

	"The Complete Films of Eisenstein: Together With An Unpublished Essay" [1974] by Sergei M. Eisenstein, translated by John Hetherington Weidenfeld & Nicolson hardcover [1/1974] out of print/used
	"The Cinema of Eisenstein" [1993] by David Bordwell Routledge 9¾x7 pb [5/2005] for $13.14 Harvard Univ Press 10½x7¾ hardcover [9/93] for $68.50 author's official website

	Based on the historical Odessa revolt of 1905; sailors aboard the battleship Potemkin refuse to eat rancid meat and the admiral orders them shot; the sailors mutiny and kill the officers; the citizens of Odessa rally behind the sailors; cossacks arrive and slaughter the unarmed citizens on the harbor steps (famous sequence) and then the Russian navy destroys the Potemkin. Co-written, directed & edited by Sergei M. Eisenstein; starring Aleksandr Antonov Kino Video b&w Blu-ray [4/2010] for $25.99 Image Ent. b&w DVD [10/98] for $23.49 Delta b&w DVD [3/2004] out of prodn/used Hollywood Select Video b&w VHS [8/97] out of prodn/used Soundtrack Factory Edmund Meisel soundtrack CD [9/2000] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia
	"Sergei M. Eisenstein's Potemkin: A Shot-By-Shot Presentation" [1972] by David Mayer Da Capo Press 8x5½ pb [1/2001] for $16.95 Viking hardcover [2/72] out of print/used entry about the film at Wikipedia
	"The Battleship Potemkin: The Film Companion" [1988] by Richard Taylor I.B. Tauris 8½x5½ pb [3/2001] for $21.95 "Battleship Potemkin" script [1984] critical text by Andrew Sinclair Faber & Faber 8¾x5½ pb [8/88] out of print/used

	A pro-Bolshevik retelling of the Russian revolution, funded by the Soviet government Co-written & co-directed by Grigori Aleksandrov & Sergei M. Eisenstein, based on "Ten Days That Shook The World" by John Reed [1887-1920] Triad Prodns Enhanced Edition b&w DVD [12/2008] for $19.95 Image Ent. b&w DVD [12/98] for $22.49 full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia
	"October" [2002] script by Sergei M. Eisenstein, critical text by Richard Taylor B.F.I. Film Classics 7½x5½ pb [5/2002] for $14.95

	"Eisenstein: The Sound Years - "Ivan The Terrible 1 & 2" & "Alexander Nevsky" Criterion b&w/color DVD [4/2001] 3 disks for $71.99
	"Ivan The Terrible: Parts 1, 2, 3 Screenplay" [1962] by Sergei Eisenstein Faber & Faber 8½x5½ pb [9/89] out of print/many used S&S trade pb [1/70] out of print/used "Ivan The Terrible" screenplay by Sergei M. Eisenstein, translated by Ivor Montagu & Herbert Marshall S&S hardcover [1/62] out of print/used
	Prokoviev's music for "Ivan The Terrible" [1942-46] adapted by Abram Stasevich as an oratorio after Prokoviev's death official Opus 116 webpage • entry at Wikipedia The Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus, with Neeme Järvi, Nikita Storojev & Linda Finnie Chandos music CD [10/92] for $17.98 Rotterdam Philharmonic & Kirov Opera Chorus, with Valery Gergiev Philips music CD[2/98] out of prodn/used

Magic Lantern Video & Book StoreSergei M. Eisenstein [1898-1948]

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
Sergei M. Eisenstein
[1898-1948]