October (Ten Days that Shook the World) [Oktyabr] ***** (1927, Boris Livanov, Nikolay Popov, Vasili Nikandrov) – Classic Movie Review 7475

Director Sergei M Eisenstein’s 1927 documentary-style Russian silent film classic October [Oktyabr] re-enacts the Ten Days that Shook the World (its alternative title) when the Bolsheviks stormed Russia’s Winter Palace in October 1917.

Film students study it now as a model of montage, but it can be enjoyed as a huge-scale historical adventure and for its exciting action highlights (such as the St Petersburg massacre and the destruction of Alexander III’s statue) and innovative use of film techniques, such as the close-up.

Boris Livanov as Terestsenko, Nikolay Popov as Kerenskiy, Vasili Nikandrov as V I Lenin and Layaschenko as Konovalov head the cast. Non-professionals in the cast include the people of Leningrad and the Red Army and Navy. It took six months to film.

October [Oktyabr] was restored in 1967, with a rousing score by Dmitri Shostakovitch, and it was restored again in 2007 with a running time of 142 minutes. Other versions run 163 minutes, 127 minutes and 115 minutes (DVD special edition).

It is said that more people were injured reproducing the storming of the Winter Palace than were hurt in the actual event.

October (Ten Days That Shook the World) [Oktyabr] is directed by Sergei M Eisenstein, runs 163 minutes, was made by Sovkino, is written by Sergei M Eisenstein and Grigoriy Aleksandrov, is shot in black and white by Eduard Tissé, Vladimir Popov and Vladimir Nilsen, and is scored by Dmitri Shostakovitch.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7475

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