Strike

Early Eisenstein. The man is best known for The Battleship Potemkin, which he would later that same year, but Strike also turned a few heads. For me, it's very much a film in two parts. There's the cinematography and editing, which I appreciated quite a bit. Then there's the plot, which did absolutely nothing for me.

The film focuses on a group of factory workers. They are mistreated by their bosses, but they finally decide to band together and stop work until their demands are met. Eisenstein follows them around as they try to outsmart their masters, which leads to a pretty violent and shocking finale.

The black and white cinematography is rich in contrast and the flashy editing adds a lot of flair to the film. The finale is pretty impressive too. But the revolt of workers against their bosses is rather basic and the runtime too long. Not a terrible film, but I'm a bit bummed Eisenstein went for a more narrative film, whereas his style has so much more potential.