Thursday, January 8, 2009
Battleship Potemkin Response
When watching this film today in class, I had a lot of questions and thoughts in my mind. When the "rotted meat" scene came up, I was confused to why the head sailors would not allow them to have different food. When the man took off his glasses after examining the rotted, worm infested meat, he seemed to have a small smirk on his face which had really confused me. Also, when one of the sailors deceased, the co-workers just threw his body on the side of a street. Why would these head sailors not want the best for their fellow workers? I find these type of silent films very interesting because it keeps the audience in constant suspense and of wanting to know what and why at some scenes. Also, when the little boy got shot it made me very sad and to that time I had realized that these sailors had little morals and respect for one another. Towards the end of this silent film, when the music went on and on, getting louder and louder, I had looked around the room and saw eyes wide open, and everyone at the edge of their seats. The music and suspense that these producers added to this scene was amazing and put the audience in these sailors shoes it had seemed. Although I somewhat enjoyed this film, I would definatly have to say that I enjoyed The Dying Swan silent movie a lot better and in my opinion, a little easier to follow!
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You're quite right that the ship's doctor and the other admirals seem to be smirking when they tell the sailors that the meat is fine and that the "brine" simply needs to be washed off. I think this is supposed to suggest that they don't care about the sailors health--and essentially consider them lower than dogs.
ReplyDeleteThey place the killed sailor Vakulinchuk's body out on the harbor so that citizens of the city of Odessa can see the injustice that has been committed. In this way Vakulinchuk becomes a martyr to the cause of Revolution... Don't you think a proper sort of burial might have almost sanctioned his death as something acceptable? That's not what these sailors seem to be aiming for.
Also, keep in mind that those soldiers on the staircase are acting for the tsarist cause (at least as the film perceives it). They are therefore the enemies of the sailors--who have rebelled against precisely that power.
I understand what your trying to get across by saying the sailors lacked morals and respect. However, the respect was apparent among themselves. When the canvas was thrown over a few of the soldiers, and they were ordered to be killed, the other soldiers bowed their heads as if they couldn't watch it happen. Furthermore, those soldiers didn't shoot because they knew they were one of the same. The respect and morals that were not evident were among the captains. The sailors didn't respect the captains because they didn't respect the sailors.
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