Strike (1925)
…………………………………………………
Strike Movie Review
Strike is a 1925 Soviet silent social drama film directed by Sergei Eisenstein. Although not great, it’s still a very good, striking (no pun intended) movie.
………………………………………………….
“It will never get better for the people…
We must strike!“
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
The film depicts a 1903 strike in Russia by the workers of the factory and their subsequent suppression. So let’s first get the obvious one out of the way – this movie came out the same year the director’s magnum opus ‘Battleship Potemkin’ was released. And yes, it’s not as amazing for sure. While a very good propaganda, social drama film in its own right, it’s no ‘Battleship Potemkin’ as it lacks that sort of raw power and energy of that famous film.
I personally found the lack of characterization troublesome as the film thus felt like a documentary, but because it tried to include characters, they felt unnecessary so that odd mix was not done well at all. And of course its episodic nature structurally speaking has its problems, especially in the mid section where the movie gets a bit dull.
However, those issues on the negative side do not plague the movie too much as it still remains a very powerful piece of early filmmaking from Russia. There is no denying the pure talent that Sergei Eisenstein so obviously possessed as his movies look absolutely amazing and they’re imbued with a lot of artistic flair so evidenced here in every single frame.
Yes, Strike looks absolutely splendid in every moment of every scene. I just adored the cinematography here and ate it up throughout. The camera movements are so polished, the movie itself looks exceptionally modern even in this day and age and having in mind that it was shot with a smaller budget just goes to show that talent is undisputed and not needing too much money as it can always break through on its own.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
The score’s great, the acting’s pretty good and I liked the dialogue quite a bit as some of the intertitles, especially the political downer ones, were very effective. The middle parts aren’t the best, but the first act’s great and the finale is chilling with the cross-cutting that compares animal killing with the violent suppression of the strike itself being particularly memorable. The movie’s very provocative and political plus it conveys really well the idea of the dangers of capitalism and the strengths of communism.
Strike has its issues and it’s simply not as terrific as the director’s other classic from the same year, but still the movie’s very potent in its imagery, politics and in particular the chilling finale that uses cross-cutting so well. Above all else, Sergei Eisenstein had an enormous talent which is shown here in full capacity when it comes to his great direction and absolutely stunning, very modern-looking cinematography imbued with a strong artistic flair.
