VHS : Ten Days That Shook the World
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
Officially produced to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Russian Revolution, October quickly became another of Sergei Eisenstein's experiments in film form. As in his masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin, Eisenstein uses explosive montage to create the spirit of revolution--in this case, the events in St. Petersburg during the months leading up to the Bolshevik revolt. Eisenstein's insistence on speaking the language of pure film (deploying space, shadow, movement, and rhythm to create his meaning) shoves his mad rush of images straight into the viewer's eye. A worker's rebellion in the streets, followed by the raising of bridges to isolate their neighborhood, becomes a visual symphony of panic. The film has also been known as Ten Days That Shook the World, its release title in the U.S. (borrowed from the book by John Reed). Its value as propaganda can be debated, but October is incredibly dynamic as film art. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - THE DEFINITIVE EVENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY
I have reviewed Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky's definitive three-volume work The History of the Russian Revolution that covers this same topic elsewhere in this space. (See April 2006 archives.) Trotsky's work gives a sweeping literary expression to the ebb and flow of the revolution much as the film under review, October 1917, does so cinematically under Eisenstein's masterful direction. I noted in the Trotsky review that his work represented partisan history at its best. One does not and should ... Read More
Rating:  - Blah...
I liked the other Eisenstein movies that I've watched. Alexander Nevsky is a classic and would probably be more of a classic if it were American. Battleship Potemkin is pretty good and has some stuff that gets ripped off by Hollywood. So I thought I would give this one a try.
I really wanted to like this movie. It's about the Russian Revolution but for me it lays things on a little too thick. I could only get to about half way through the movie (as the horse is hanging off the bridge ... Read More
Rating: - Classic Propoganda Film
October is a re-telling of the events of the Russian revolution. However, it was commissioned as a propoganda piece so that the only "character" that stands out is Lenin, who, of course is idolized. There are the populace and soldiers who are on the side of the Bolsheviks but they are basically nameless and faceless as is the other side (mensheviks). However, its not the plot that makes the movie fascinating but the use of montage and imagery, sometimes dizzying. Not quite as good as Battleship Potemkin ... Read More
Rating:  - Russian Revolution
As a girl from Russia i want to tell - this is a very good movie about turning point of my Fatherland's history
Rating: - Refined but difficult
Rating and reviewing movies like these are often difficult for the average critic. On one hand, they're done absolutely brilliantly done in ways that take one's breath away; on the other hand, how much credit can you give to a movie that is pure propaganda, especially propaganda for something the reviewer doesn't agree with?
This "realistic re-enactment" of the events of October 25th, 1917, is actually anything but realism. Instead, it is a harrowing and amazing Romantic experience. This ... Read More
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