View source for Battleship Potemkin

{{short description|1925 film by Sergei Eisenstein}}
{{About||the battleship|Russian battleship Potemkin{{!}}Russian battleship ''Potemkin''|the album|Battleship Potemkin (album){{!}}''Battleship Potemkin'' (album)}}
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{{Infobox film
| name           = Battleship Potemkin
| image          = Vintage_Potemkin.jpg
| caption        = Original Soviet release poster in [[Russian language|Russian]]
| native_name    = Бронено́сец «Потёмкин»
| director       = [[Sergei Eisenstein]]
| producer       = {{ill|Yakov Bliokh|ru|Яков Блиох}}
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Nina Agadzhanova]]
* Sergei Eisenstein {{small|(uncredited)}}
* [[Grigori Aleksandrov]] {{small|(uncredited)}}
* [[Nikolai Aseyev]] {{small|(intertitles)}}
* [[Sergei Tretyakov (writer)|Sergei Tretyakov]]}} {{small|(intertitles)}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Aleksandr Antonov (actor)|Aleksandr Antonov]]
* [[Vladimir Barsky]]
* Grigori Aleksandrov
* {{ill|Ivan Bobrov|ru|Иван Бобров}}
}}
| music          = [[Edmund Meisel]]
| cinematography = [[Eduard Tisse]]
| editing        = {{Plainlist|
* Sergei Eisenstein {{small|(uncredited)}}
* Grigori Aleksandrov {{small|(uncredited)}}
}}
| studio         = [[Mosfilm]]
| distributor    = [[Goskino]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1925|12|21}}
| runtime        = 74 minutes
| country        = [[Soviet Union]]
| language       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Silent film]]
* [[Russian language|Russian]] intertitles}}
}}
''''' Battleship Potemkin''''' ({{langx|ru|Броненосец «Потёмкин»|Bronenosets «Potyomkin»}}, {{IPA|ru|brənʲɪˈnosʲɪts pɐˈtʲɵmkʲɪn|}}), sometimes rendered as '''''Battleship Potyomkin''''', is a 1925 Soviet [[silent film|silent]] [[epic film]] produced by [[Mosfilm]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema|author=Peter Rollberg|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2016|place=US|isbn=978-1442268425|pages=93–94}}</ref> Directed and co-written by [[Sergei Eisenstein]], it presents a dramatization of [[Russian battleship Potemkin#Mutiny|the mutiny]] that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the [[Russian battleship Potemkin|Russian battleship ''Potemkin'']] rebelled against their officers. 

The film is a prime example of the [[Soviet montage theory|Soviet montage]] theory of editing, such as in the "[[Battleship Potemkin#The Odessa Steps sequence|Odessa Steps]]" scene, which became widely influential and often recreated. In 1958, the film was voted on [[Expo 58#International film poll|Brussels 12]] list at the 1958 World Expo. ''Battleship Potemkin'' is widely considered one of the [[List of films considered the best|greatest films ever made]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2764734/whats-the-big-deal-battleship-potemkin-1925/ |title=What's the Big Deal?: Battleship Potemkin (1925) |last=Snider |first=Eric |date=23 November 2010 |website=MTV News |publisher=[[MTV]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523022036/http://www.mtv.com/news/2764734/whats-the-big-deal-battleship-potemkin-1925/|archive-date=23 May 2019 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="EbertFest">{{cite web |url=http://www.ebertfest.com/one/battleship_rev.htm |title=Battleship Potemkin |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122192943/http://ebertfest.com/one/battleship_rev.htm |archive-date=22 November 2010 |url-status=dead |access-date=28 November 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.filmsite.org/greatfilmssummary.html |title=Top Films of All-Time |website=Filmsite |access-date=23 May 2019}}</ref> In the most recent ''[[Sight and Sound]]'' critics' poll in 2022, it was voted the fifty-fourth-greatest film of all time, and it had been placed in the top 10 in many previous editions.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 2022 |title=The Greatest Films of All Time |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time |access-date=8 December 2022 |work=[[British Film Institute]] |publisher=[[Sight & Sound]]}}</ref>

==Plot==
[[File:Battleship Potemkin (1925) by Sergei Eisenstein.webm|right|thumb|thumbtime=0|''Battleship Potemkin'' (1925)]]
The film is set in June 1905; the protagonists of the film are the members of the crew of the [[Russian battleship Potemkin|''Potemkin'']], a battleship of the [[Imperial Russian Navy]]'s [[Black Sea Fleet]]. Eisenstein divided the plot into five acts, each with its own title:

===Act I: Men and Maggots===
The scene begins with two sailors, [[Afanasi Matushenko|Matyushenko]] and [[Grigory Vakulenchuk|Vakulinchuk]], discussing the need for the crew of the ''Potemkin'', which is anchored off the island of [[Tendra Spit|Tendra]], to support the [[1905 Russian Revolution|revolution]] then taking place within Russia. After their watch, they and other off-duty sailors are sleeping. As an officer inspects the quarters, he stumbles and takes out his aggression on a sleeping sailor. The ruckus causes Vakulinchuk to awake, and he gives a speech to the men as they come to. Vakulinchuk says, "Comrades! The time has come when we too must speak out. Why wait? All of Russia has risen! Are we to be the last?" The scene cuts to morning, where sailors are remarking on the poor quality of the meat. The meat appears to be rotten and covered in maggots, and the sailors say that "even a dog wouldn't eat this!" The ship's doctor, Smirnov, is called over to inspect the meat by the captain. Rather than maggots, the doctor says that they are insects, and they can be washed off before cooking. The sailors further complain about the poor quality of the rations, but the doctor declares the meat edible and ends the discussion. Senior officer [[Ippolit Giliarovsky|Giliarovsky]] forces the sailors still looking over the rotten meat to leave the area, and the cook begins to prepare [[borscht]], although he too questions the quality of the meat. The crew refuses to eat the borscht, instead choosing bread, water, and canned goods. While cleaning dishes, one of the sailors sees an inscription on a plate which reads "[[Lord's Prayer|give us this day our daily bread]]". After considering the meaning of this phrase, the sailor smashes the plate and the scene ends.

===Act II: Drama on the Deck===
All those who refuse the meat are judged guilty of insubordination and are brought to the fore-deck where they receive religious last rites. The sailors are obliged to kneel and a canvas cover is thrown over them as a firing squad marches onto the deck. The First Officer gives the order to fire, but in response to Vakulinchuk's pleas the sailors in the firing squad lower their rifles and the uprising begins. The sailors overwhelm the outnumbered officers and take control of the ship. The officers are thrown overboard, the ship's priest is dragged out of hiding, and finally the doctor is thrown into the ocean as 'food for the worms'. The mutiny is successful but Vakulinchuk, the charismatic leader of the rebels, is killed.

===Act III: A Dead Man Calls for Justice===
The ''Potemkin'' arrives at the port of [[Odessa]]. Vakulinchuk's body is taken ashore and displayed publicly by his companions in a tent with a sign on his chest that says "For a spoonful of borscht" (Изъ-за ложки борща). The citizens of Odessa, saddened yet empowered by Vakulinchuk's sacrifice, are soon whipped into a frenzy against the Tsar and his government by sympathizers. A man allied with the government tries to turn the citizens' fury against the Jews, but he is quickly shouted down and beaten by the people. The sailors gather to make a final farewell and praise Vakulinchuk as a hero. The people of Odessa welcome the sailors, but they attract the police as they mobilize against the government.

===Act IV: The Odessa Steps===
The citizenry of Odessa take to their boats, sailing out to the ''Potemkin'' to support the sailors, while a crowd of others gather at the [[Potemkin Stairs|Odessa steps]] to witness the happenings and cheer on the rebels. Suddenly a detachment of dismounted [[Cossack host|Cossacks]] form battle lines at the top of the steps and march toward a crowd of unarmed civilians including women and children, and begin firing and advancing with fixed bayonets. Every now and again, the soldiers halt to fire a volley into the crowd before continuing their impersonal, machine-like assault down the stairs, ignoring the people's pleas. Meanwhile, government cavalry attack the fleeing crowd at the bottom of the steps as well, cutting down many of those who survived the dismounted assault. Brief sequences show individuals among the people fleeing or falling, a baby carriage rolling down the steps, a woman shot in the face, broken glasses, and the high boots of the soldiers moving in unison.<ref>Motion Pictures, Art of; pages 499 & 525, Vol 12, Encyclopaedia Britannica Macropaedia</ref>

In retaliation, the sailors of the ''Potemkin'' use the guns of the battleship to fire on the city opera house, where Tsarist military leaders are convening a meeting. Meanwhile, there is news that a squadron of loyal warships is coming to quell the revolt of the ''Potemkin''.

===Act V: One Against All===
The sailors of the ''Potemkin'' decide to take the battleship out from the port of Odessa to face the fleet of the Tsar, flying the [[Red flag (politics)|red flag]] along with the signal "Join us". Just when battle seems inevitable, the sailors of the Tsarist squadron refuse to open fire, cheering and shouting to show solidarity with the mutineers and allowing the ''Potemkin'' to pass between their ships.

==Cast==
* [[Aleksandr Antonov (actor)|Aleksandr Antonov]] as [[Grigory Vakulenchuk|Grigory Vakulinchuk]] (Bolshevik sailor)
* [[Vladimir Barsky]] as Commander Evgeny Golikov
* [[Grigori Aleksandrov]] as Chief Officer [[Ippolit Giliarovsky|Giliarovsky]]
* [[Mikhail Gomorov]] as [[Afanasi Matushenko]]
* [[Maksim Shtraukh]] as Fyodor Smirnov
* Aleksandr Levshin as Petty Officer
* Ivan Bobrov as Young sailor flogged while sleeping
* Nina Poltavseva as Woman with [[pince-nez]]
* Lyrkean Makeon as the Masked Man
* Konstantin Feldman as Student agitator
* [[Beatrice Vitoldi]] as Woman with the baby carriage

==Production==
On the 20th anniversary of the [[1905 Russian Revolution|first Russian revolution]], the commemorative commission of the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] decided to stage a number of performances dedicated to the revolutionary events of 1905. As part of the celebrations, it was suggested that a "... grand film [be] shown in a special program, with an oratory introduction, musical (solo and orchestral) and a dramatic accompaniment based on a specially written text".<ref>{{cite book |script-title=ru:Броненосец "Потемкин." |series=Шедевры советского кино |editor=Наум И. Клейман |editor2=К. Б. Левина |page=24}}</ref> [[Nina Agadzhanova]] was asked to write the script and direction of the picture was assigned to 27-year-old [[Sergei Eisenstein]].<ref name="seton-74">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/sergeimeisenstei00seto#page/74/mode/2up |publisher=[[Grove Press]] |author=Marie Seton |title=Sergei M. Eisenstein: a biography |year=1960 |page=74 |author-link=Marie Seton}}</ref>

In the original script, the film was to highlight a number of episodes from the 1905 revolution: the [[Russo-Japanese War]], [[Armenian–Tatar massacres of 1905–1906]], [[Bloody Sunday (1905)|revolutionary events in St. Petersburg]] and the [[Moscow uprising of 1905|Moscow uprising]]. Filming was to be conducted in a number of cities within the USSR.<ref name="leyda">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/kinohistoryofrus00jayl#page/193/mode/2up/ |publisher=[[George Allen & Unwin]] |author=Jay Leyda |title=Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film |year=1960 |pages=193–199 |author-link=Jay Leyda}}</ref>

Eisenstein hired many non-professional actors for the film; he sought people of specific types instead of famous stars.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/sergeimeisenstei00seto#page/79/mode/2up|publisher=[[Grove Press]] |author=Marie Seton |title=Sergei M. Eisenstein: a biography |year=1960 |pages=79–82 |author-link=Marie Seton}}</ref><ref name="leyda" />

Shooting began on 31 March 1925. Eisenstein began filming in Leningrad and had time to shoot the railway strike episode, [[horsecar]], city at night and the strike crackdown on Sadovaya Street. Further shooting was prevented by deteriorating weather, with fog setting in. At the same time, the director faced tight time constraints: the film needed to be finished by the end of the year, although the script was approved only on 4 June. Eisenstein decided to give up the original script consisting of eight episodes, to focus on just one, the uprising on the [[Russian battleship Potemkin|battleship ''Potemkin'']], which involved just a few pages (41 frames) from Agadzhanova's script. Eisenstein and [[Grigori Aleksandrov]] essentially recycled and extended the script.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gornovosti.ru/tema/other/3529-shedevr-za-dva-mesyaca.htm |publisher=Gorodskie Novosti |title=Шедевр за два месяца |access-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808104224/http://gornovosti.ru/tema/other/3529-shedevr-za-dva-mesyaca.htm |archive-date=8 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In addition, during the progress of making the film, some episodes were added that had existed neither in Agadzhanova's script nor in Eisenstein's scenic sketches, such as the storm scene with which the film begins. As a result, the content of the film was far removed from Agadzhanova's original script.

The film was shot in [[Odessa]], at that time a center of film production where it was possible to find a suitable warship for shooting.

The first screening of the film took place on 21 December 1925 at a ceremonial meeting dedicated to the anniversary of the 1905 revolution at the [[Bolshoi Theatre]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/notesoffilmdirec00eise#page/140/mode/2up |publisher=[[Foreign Languages Publishing House (Soviet Union)|Foreign Languages Publishing House]] |author=Sergei Eisenstein |title=Notes of a film director |year=1959 |page=140 |author-link=Sergei Eisenstein}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |publisher=Iskusstvo |author=Esfir Shub |title=My Life — Cinema |year=1972 |pages=98 |author-link=Esfir Shub}}</ref> The premiere was held in Moscow on 18 January 1926, in the 1st Goskinoteatre (now called the [[:ru:Художественный (кинотеатр, Москва)|Khudozhestvenny]]).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kv5VfOoSDdQC&pg=PA137 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |editor=Richard Taylor, Ian Christie |title=The Film Factory: Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents |year=1994 |pages=137 |isbn=9781135082512}}</ref><ref name="rg_watch">{{cite web |url=https://rg.ru/2013/12/05/bronenosets-site.html |publisher=rg.ru |title=Почему стоит снова посмотреть фильм "Броненосец "Потемкин"|date=5 December 2013 }}</ref>

The silent film received a voice dubbing in 1930, was restored in 1950 (composer Nikolai Kryukov) and reissued in 1976 (composer [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]) at [[Mosfilm]] with the participation of the [[:ru:Государственный фонд кинофильмов Российской Федерации|USSR State Film Fund]] and the Museum of S.M. Eisenstein under the artistic direction of [[Sergei Yutkevich]].

In 1925, after sale of the film's negatives to Germany and reediting by director [[Phil Jutzi]], ''Battleship Potemkin'' was released internationally in a different version from that originally intended. The attempted execution of sailors was moved from the beginning to the end of the film. Later it was subjected to censorship, and in the USSR some frames and intermediate titles were removed. The words of [[Leon Trotsky]] in the prologue were replaced with a quote from [[Lenin]].<ref name="rg_watch" /> In 2005, under the overall guidance of the Foundation [[Deutsche Kinemathek]], with the participation of the State Film Fund and the [[Russian State Archive of Literature and Art]], the author's version of the film was restored, including the music by [[Edmund Meisel]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pravda.ru/culture/cinema/russiancinema/19-12-2008/296505-potemkin-0/ |publisher=[[Pravda]] |title="Потемкин" после реставрации |date=19 December 2008}}</ref>

The battleship ''Kniaz Potemkin Tarritcheski'', later renamed ''Panteleimon'' and then ''Boretz Za Svobodu'', was derelict and in the process of being scrapped at the time of the film shoot. It is usually stated that the battleship {{ship|Russian battleship|Dvenadsat Apostolov||2}} was used instead, but she was a very different design of vessel from that of the ''Potemkin'', and the film footage matches the battleship {{ship|Russian battleship|Rostislav||2}} more closely. The ''Rostislav'' had been scuttled in 1920, but her [[superstructure]] remained completely above water until 1930. Interior scenes were filmed on the cruiser {{ship|Soviet cruiser|Komintern||2}}. Stock footage of ''Potemkin'' was used to show her at sea, and stock footage of the French fleet depicted the waiting Russian Black Sea fleet. Anachronistic footage of triple-gun-turret Russian [[dreadnought]]s was also included.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/notesoffilmdirec00eise#page/18/mode/2up |publisher=[[Foreign Languages Publishing House (Soviet Union)|Foreign Languages Publishing House]] |author=Sergei Eisenstein |title=Notes of a film director |year=1959 |pages=18–23 |author-link=Sergei Eisenstein}}</ref><ref name="leyda" />

In the film, the rebels raise a red flag on the battleship, but the [[orthochromatic]] black-and-white film stock of the period made the color red look black, so a white flag was used instead. Eisenstein hand-tinted the flag in red in 108 frames for the premiere at the Grand Theatre, which was greeted with thunderous applause by the Bolshevik audience.<ref name="rg_watch" />

==Film style and content==
The film is composed of five episodes:
* "Men and Maggots" ({{lang|ru|Люди и черви}}), in which the sailors protest having to eat rotten meat.
* "Drama on the Deck" ({{lang|ru|Драма на тендре}}), in which the sailors mutiny and their leader Vakulinchuk is killed.
* "A Dead Man Calls for Justice" ({{lang|ru|Мёртвый взывает}}), in which [[Grigory Vakulenchuk|Vakulinchuk's]] body is mourned by the people of [[Odessa]].
* "The [[Potemkin Stairs|Odessa Steps]]" ({{lang|ru|Одесская лестница}}), in which imperial soldiers massacre the Odessans.
* "One against all" ({{lang|ru|Встреча с эскадрой}}), in which the squadron tasked with intercepting the Potemkin instead declines to engage; lowering their guns, its sailors cheer on the rebellious battleship and join the mutiny.

Eisenstein wrote the film as revolutionary propaganda,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marxist.com/ArtAndLiterature-old/potemkin_trafalgar_square0904.htm |last=Martorell |first=Jordi |title=Pet Shop Boys meet Battleship Potemkin – Revolution in Trafalgar Square|website=[[Revolutionary Communist International|In Defence of Marxism]]|date=14 September 2004|access-date=28 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010125831/http://www.marxist.com/ArtAndLiterature-old/potemkin_trafalgar_square0904.htm |archive-date=10 October 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hoskisson |first=Mark |url=http://www.permanentrevolution.net/?view=entry&entry=1933 |title=Battleship Potemkin, Strike, October by Sergei Eisenstein: Appreciation |date=22 February 2008 |work=Permanent Revolution|access-date=28 November 2010 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924071303/http://www.permanentrevolution.net/?view=entry&entry=1933 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but also used it to test his theories of [[Soviet montage theory|montage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silentsaregolden.com/HAV%20Bulleid/Battleship%20Potemkin.html |title=Battleship Potemkin |first=H. A. V. |last=Bulleid|work=Famous Library Films|access-date=28 November 2010}}</ref> The revolutionary Soviet filmmakers of the [[Lev Kuleshov|Kuleshov]] school of filmmaking were experimenting with the effect of [[film editing]] on audiences, and Eisenstein attempted to edit the film in such a way as to produce the greatest emotional response, so that the viewer would feel sympathy for the rebellious sailors of the Battleship ''Potemkin'' and hatred for their overlords. In the manner of most [[propaganda]], the characterization is simple, so that the audience could clearly see with whom they should sympathize.

[[Image:Крым. Алупка. Воронцовский дворец. Львиная терраса 1910-1913гг 464650 e1sm.jpg|thumb|The [[Vorontsov Palace (Alupka)|Vorontsov Palace]] lion sculptures featured by Eisenstein, ca 1910-1913]]
A notable example of Eisenstein's montage technique is the sequence featuring the lion statues at the [[Vorontsov Palace, Alupka|Vorontsov Palace]] in [[Crimea]]. The statues—a sleeping lion, a waking lion, and one rising to its feet—are edited in succession to create the illusion of movement, symbolizing the revolutionary awakening. These statues were modeled after the [[Medici Lions]] of Renaissance Italy, linking classical art to the film's modern revolutionary themes.<ref name="Winkler2021">{{cite journal |last=Winkler |first=Martin M. |title=The Medici Lions: Culture and Cinema from Rome to Alupka and Beyond |journal=ClassicoContemporaneo |volume=7 |year=2021 |url=https://www.classicocontemporaneo.eu/index.php/209-numero-7/presenze-classiche-7/arti-visive-7/545-the-medici-lions-culture-and-cinema-from-rome-to-alupka-and-beyond |access-date=2025-01-01 |issn=2421-4744 }}</ref>

Eisenstein's experiment was a mixed success; he "was disappointed when ''Potemkin'' failed to attract masses of viewers",<ref>{{cite book |last=Neuberger |first=Joan |year=2003 |title=Ivan the Terrible |publisher=I. B. Tauris |location=New York}}</ref> but the film was also released in a number of international venues, where audiences responded positively. In both the Soviet Union and overseas, the film shocked audiences, but not so much for its political statements as for its use of violence, which was considered graphic by the standards of the time.<ref name="Potem">{{cite web|last=Snider |first=Eric |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2764734/whats-the-big-deal-battleship-potemkin-1925/|title=What's the Big Deal?: Battleship Potemkin (1925)|work=MTV News|access-date=10 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312052851/http://www.mtv.com/news/2764734/whats-the-big-deal-battleship-potemkin-1925/|archive-date=12 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Corney|first=Frederick C.|title=Battleship Potemkin |url=http://worldcinemadirectory.co.uk/index.php/component/film/?id=432 |website=Directory of World Cinema|access-date=28 November 2010|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125135003/http://worldcinemadirectory.co.uk/index.php/component/film/?id=432|archive-date=25 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Potem1">{{cite web|url=http://www.germaniainternational.com/himmler4.html |title=Heinrich Himmler: Order from Top SS Commander (Himmler) about Russian Propaganda Film|work=Germania International|access-date=28 November 2010}}</ref> The film's potential to influence political thought through emotional response was noted by Nazi propaganda minister [[Joseph Goebbels]], who called ''Potemkin'' "a marvelous film without equal in the cinema ... anyone who had no firm political conviction could become a [[Bolsheviks|Bolshevik]] after seeing the film."<ref name="Potem1" /><ref name = "ht">{{cite magazine |last=Winston |first=Brian |title=Triumph of the Will |magazine=History Today |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/triumph-will |volume=47 |issue=1 |date=1 January 1997|access-date=30 July 2006}}</ref> He was even interested in getting Germans to make a similar film. Eisenstein did not like the idea and wrote an indignant letter to Goebbels in which he stated that [[Nazism|National Socialistic]] realism did not have either truth or realism.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/sergeimeisenstei00seto#page/326/mode/2up |publisher=[[Grove Press]] |first=Marie |last=Seton |title=Sergei M. Eisenstein: a biography |year=1960 |pages=326–327 |author-link=Marie Seton}}</ref> The film was not banned in [[Nazi Germany]], although [[Heinrich Himmler]] issued a directive prohibiting [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] members from attending screenings, as he deemed the movie inappropriate for the troops.<ref name="Potem1" /> The film was eventually banned in some countries, including the United States and France for a time, as well as in its native Soviet Union. The film was banned in the United Kingdom longer than was any other film in British history.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/battleship-potemkin |title=Battleship Potemkin |work=British Board of Film Classification|date=14 August 2020 |access-date=8 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412145311/https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/battleship-potemkin |archive-date=12 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==The Odessa Steps sequence==
One of the most celebrated scenes in the film is the massacre of civilians on the [[Odessa]] Steps (also known as the Primorsky or [[Potemkin Stairs]]). This sequence has been assessed as a "classic"<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Battleship-Potemkin "Battleship Potemkin"]. ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''.</ref> and one of the most influential in the history of cinema.<ref>"What Eisenstein created was the action sequence, which is absolutely vital to any modern film. ... Eisenstein's editing techniques have been used in any film made since that features any type of action sequence at all." Dylan Rambow (25 April 2015), [http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/20-influential-silent-films-every-movie-buff-should-see/3/#ixzz4N2Zafzst "20 Influential Silent Films Every Movie Buff Should See"], ''Taste of Cinema''.</ref><ref>Andrew O'Hehir (12 January 2011), [http://www.salon.com/2011/01/12/potemkin/ "How 'Battleship Potemkin' reshaped Hollywood"], ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]''</ref> In the scene, the [[Tsar]]'s soldiers in their white summer tunics march down a seemingly endless flight of steps in a rhythmic, machine-like fashion, firing volleys into a crowd. A separate detachment of mounted [[Cossack]]s charges the crowd at the bottom of the stairs. The victims include an older woman wearing [[pince-nez]], a young boy with his mother, a student in uniform and a teenage schoolgirl. A mother pushing an infant in a baby carriage falls to the ground dying and the carriage rolls down the steps amid the fleeing crowd.

The massacre on the steps, although it did not take place in daylight<ref>{{cite book |first=Neal |last=Bascomb |page=352 |title=Red Mutiny |isbn=978-0-547-05352-3 |year=2008|publisher=Houghton Mifflin }}</ref> or as portrayed,<ref>{{cite book |last=Fabe |first=Marilyn |title=Closely Watched Films: An Introduction to the Art of Narrative Film Technique |url=https://archive.org/details/closelywatchedfi00fabe_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=University of California Press |date=1 August 2004 |isbn=0-520-23862-1 |page=24}}</ref> was based on the fact that there were widespread riots in other parts of the city, sparked off by the arrival of the ''Potemkin'' in Odessa Harbour. Both ''[[The Times]]'' and the resident British [[Consul general|consul]] reported that troops fired on the rioters; deaths were reportedly in the hundreds.<ref name="Times report">"During the night there were ... fierce conflicts between the troops and the rioters. The dead are reckoned in hundreds." "Havoc in the Town and Harbour", ''The Times'', 30 June 1905, p. 5.</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] writes, "That there was, in fact, no tsarist massacre on the Odessa Steps scarcely diminishes the power of the scene&nbsp;... It is ironic that [Eisenstein] did it so well that today, the bloodshed on the Odessa steps is often referred to as if it really happened."<ref>[[Roger Ebert|Ebert, Roger]] (19 July 1998). "[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-battleship-potemkin-1925 The Battleship Potemkin]", ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''.</ref>

{{Gallery
|title="Odessa Steps" sequence
|align=center
|File:odessastepsboots.jpg
|The boots of the soldiers shown marching down the Odessa Steps
|File:odessastepsbaby.jpg
|A baby in a carriage falling down the Odessa Steps
|File:Potemkinmarch.jpg
|A wide shot of the massacre on the Odessa Steps
}}

===Treatment in other works of art===
[[File:Eisenstein Potemkin 2.jpg|thumb|upright|British painter [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]] called this ''Battleship Potemkin'' image a "catalyst" for his work.]]
[[File:Untitled (Crowd 1), 1992.jpg|thumb|Soviet Union-born American photographer [[Alexey Titarenko]] paid tribute to the Odessa Steps shot in his series ''City Of Shadows'' (St. Petersburg, 1991).]]

The scene is perhaps the best example of Eisenstein's theory on montage, and many films pay homage to the scene, including:

* [[Terry Gilliam]]'s ''[[Brazil (1985 film)|Brazil]]''
* [[Brian De Palma]]'s ''[[The Untouchables (1987 film)|The Untouchables]]''<ref name="denofgeek">{{cite web |title=Iconic movie scene: The Untouchables' Union Station shoot-out |url=http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/18343/iconic-movie-scene-the-untouchables%E2%80%99-union-station-shoot-out |publisher=Den of Geek |date=16 November 2011 |access-date=2020-10-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419031700/https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/18343/iconic-movie-scene-the-untouchables%E2%80%99-union-station-shoot-out |archive-date=2019-04-19 }}</ref>
* [[George Lucas]]'s ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/feb/01/features.features |title=Films influenced by Battleship Potemkin |author=Xan Brooks |date=1 February 2008 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=10 October 2016}}</ref> 
* [[Tibor Takacs (director)|Tibor Takacs]]'s ''[[Deathline]]''
* [[Laurel and Hardy]]'s ''[[The Music Box]]''
* [[N. Chandra|Chandrashekhar Narvekar's]] Hindi film ''[[Tezaab]]''
* [[Shukō Murase]]'s anime ''[[Ergo Proxy]]''
* [[Peter Sellers]]' ''[[The Magic Christian (film)|The Magic Christian]]''
* ''[[The Children Thief]]''
* [[Johnnie To]]'s ''[[Three (2016 film)|Three]]''
* [[Ettore Scola]]'s ''[[We All Loved Each Other So Much]]''
* [[Denis Villeneuve]]'s ''[[Dune (2021 film)|Dune]]''

Several films spoof it, including 
* [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Bananas (film)|Bananas]]'' and ''[[Love and Death]]''
* [[Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker]]'s ''[[Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult|Naked Gun {{frac|33|1|3}}: The Final Insult]]'' (though also a parody of ''The Untouchables'')
* the Soviet-Polish comedy ''[[Deja Vu (1988 film)|Deja Vu]]''
* [[Jacob Tierney]]'s ''[[The Trotsky]]''
* The short film ''[[Mr. Bill#Film|Mr. Bill Goes to Washington]]''
* The German–Turkish film ''[[Kebab Connection]]''
* The 1999 direct-to-video film ''[[An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster]]''
* The Italian [[Ugo Fantozzi|Fantozzi]] comedy film {{lang|it|[[Il secondo tragico Fantozzi]]}}

Non-film shows that parody the scene include:
* a 1996 episode of the American adult animated sitcom, ''[[Duckman]]'', entitled "The Longest Weekend"
* a 2014 episode of ''[[Rake (Australian TV series)|Rake]]'' (Season 3, Episode 5)
 
Artists and others influenced by the work include:
* The Irish-born painter [[Francis Bacon (painter)|Francis Bacon]] (1909–1992). Eisenstein's images profoundly influenced Bacon, particularly the Odessa Steps shot of the nurse's broken glasses and open-mouthed scream. The open mouth image appeared first in Bacon's ''Abstraction from the Human Form'', in ''[[Fragment of a Crucifixion]]'', and other works including his famous ''Head'' series.<ref>{{cite book |last=Peppiatt |first=Michael |year=1996 |title=Francis Bacon: Anatomy of an Enigma |publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]] |isbn=0-297-81616-0 |location=London}}</ref>
* The Soviet Union-born photographer and artist [[Alexey Titarenko]] was inspired by and paid tribute to the Odessa Steps sequence in his series ''City of Shadows'' (1991–1993), shot near the subway station in [[Saint Petersburg]].<ref>Protzman, Ferdinand (2003). "Landscape. Photographs of Time and Place". ''[[National Geographic Magazine|National Geographic]]'', {{ISBN|0-7922-6166-6}}</ref>
* The popular culture periodical (and website) ''Odessa Steps Magazine'', started in 2000, is named after the sequence.
* The 2011 October Revolution parade in Moscow featured a homage to the film.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sqar.nl/119-projects/movies-in-concert/931-battleship-potemkin|title=News|website=Squire Artists|date=18 May 2012 }}</ref>
* Episode 2 of Japanese animation ''[[Ergo Proxy]]'' titled "Confessions of a Fellow Citizen".

==Distribution, censorship and restoration==
After its first screening, the film was not distributed in the Soviet Union and there was a danger that it would be lost among other productions. Poet [[Vladimir Mayakovsky]] intervened because his good friend, poet [[Nikolai Aseev]], had participated in the making of the film's intertitles. Mayakovsky's opposing party was Sovkino's president [[Konstantin Shvedchikov]]. He was a politician and friend of Vladimir Lenin who once hid Lenin in his home before the Revolution. Mayakovsky presented Shvedchikov with a hard demand that the film would be distributed abroad, and intimidated Shvedchikov with the fate of becoming a villain in history books. Mayakovsky's closing sentence was "Shvedchikovs come and go, but art remains. Remember that!" Besides Mayakovsky many others also persuaded Shvedchikov to spread the film around the world and after constant pressure from Sovkino he eventually sent the film to Berlin. There ''Battleship Potemkin'' became a huge success, and the film was again screened in Moscow.<ref name="leyda" />

When [[Douglas Fairbanks]] and [[Mary Pickford]] visited Moscow in July 1926, they were full of praise for ''Battleship Potemkin''; Fairbanks helped distribute the film in the U.S., and even asked Eisenstein to go to Hollywood. In the U.S. the film premiered in New York on 5 December 1926, at the [[Samuel J. Friedman Theatre|Biltmore Theatre]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/sergeimeisenstei00seto#page/87/mode/2up |publisher=[[Grove Press]] |author=Marie Seton|title=Sergei M. Eisenstein: a biography |year=1960 |page=87 |author-link=Marie Seton}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/kinohistoryofrus00jayl#page/205/mode/2up/ |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |author=Jay Leyda |title=Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film |year=1960 |pages=205 |author-link=Jay Leyda}}</ref>

The film was shown in an edited form in Germany, with some scenes of extreme violence edited out by German distributors. A written introduction by Trotsky was cut from Soviet prints after he ran afoul of [[Stalin]]. The film was banned in the United Kingdom<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/battleship-potemkin-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yndy0mdy |title=Battleship Potemkin |work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] |date=30 September 1926 |access-date=24 December 2024 |quote=The BBFC determined this content to be unsuitable for classification at the time it was submitted.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |publisher=Riant Chateau TERRITET Switzerland |author=Bryher |title=Film Problems Of Soviet Russia |year=1922 |pages=31 |author-link=Bryher (novelist)}}</ref> (until 1954; it was then X-rated<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/battleship-potemkin-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yndy0mdy |title=Battleship Potemkin |work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] |date=11 January 1954 |access-date=24 December 2024 |quote=Mild violence occurs during a massacre on the Odessa Steps which shows several people being shot and trampled on, with brief sight of bloody detail on the faces of the dead and injured.<!--From the X classification in 1954-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/battleship-potemkin |title=Case Study: Battleship Potemkin, Students' British Board of Film Classification website |publisher=Sbbfc.co.uk |access-date=5 October 2014}}</ref> until 1987<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/battleship-potemkin-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yndy0mdy |title=Battleship Potemkin |work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] |date=16 November 1987 |access-date=24 December 2024 |quote=Mild violence occurs during a massacre on the Odessa Steps which shows several people being shot and trampled on, with brief sight of bloody detail on the faces of the dead and injured.<!--From the PG classification in 1987-->}}</ref>), France, Japan, and other countries for its revolutionary zeal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Soviet Films Hit by Foreign Censor, U.S. Is Liberal |newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |location=New York City |pages=6 |date=13 July 1928 |url=https://archive.org/details/variety91-1928-07/page/n77/mode/1up |access-date=2024-03-17}}</ref>

Today the film is widely available in various DVD editions. In 2004, a three-year restoration of the film was completed. Many excised scenes of violence were restored, as well as the original written introduction by Trotsky. The previous English [[intertitle]]s, which had toned down the mutinous sailors' revolutionary rhetoric, were corrected so that they would now be an accurate translation of the original Russian titles.

===Posters===
[[File:kino0.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Another poster of ''Battleship Potemkin'']]
The [[poster]]s for the movie ''Battleship Potemkin'' created by [[Alexander Rodchenko|Aleksandr Rodchenko]] in 1925 became prominent examples of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Constructivism (art)|constructivist art]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Ian Haydn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffR0DwAAQBAJ&dq=Potemkin&pg=PA47|title=Selling the Movie: The Art of the Film Poster|date=2018-09-20|publisher=White Lion Publishing|isbn=978-0-7112-4025-4|language=en}}</ref> One version shows a sniper sight on two scenes of [[Sergei Eisenstein|Eisenstein]]'s movie, representing two guns of the Battleship.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gourianova|first=Nina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zc8kDQAAQBAJ&dq=Battleship_Potemkin_poster&pg=PA273|title=The Aesthetics of Anarchy: Art and Ideology in the Early Russian Avant-Garde|date=2012-03-06|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-26876-0|language=en}}</ref>

Another version was created in 1926.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.ivam.es/catalogospdfs/0664/pubData/source/Rodchenko.pdf|title=Ródchenko. Caso de estudio|publisher=[[IVAM]]}}</ref> Being part of collections of museums such as [[Valencia]]'s [[Institut Valencià d'Art Modern|IVAM]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Institut Valencià d'Art Modern|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LSL6Y9I7Si0b2pRIqgoQ2zKGmLoGyH02/view?usp=sharing|title=50 obras maesstras de la Colección del IVAM: 1900-1950|date=2019|publisher=Institut Valencià d'Art Modern|others=Rocío Robles Tardóo|isbn=978-84-482-6416-1|location=València|oclc=1241664690}}</ref> shows a much clearer image.<ref name=":0" /> Using a central romboid figure with the [[Battleship]] on it, combines [[graphic design]] and [[photomontage]] to create an image where the Battleship is the main protagonist.<ref name=":0" /> The clear image contrasts with the aggressive use of [[painting]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=El acorazado Potempkin - Alexander Rodchenko|url=https://historia-arte.com/obras/el-acorazado-potempkin|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-19|website=HA!|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922114529/https://historia-arte.com/obras/el-acorazado-potempkin |archive-date=2020-09-22 }}</ref> whereas the diagonal lines are also a recognizable trait of the work.<ref name=":1" />

There is also a poster where the central figure is a [[sailor]], with the Battleship on the central background.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Underwood|first=Alice E. M.|title="We invented and changed the world": A Rodchenko Art Gallery|url=https://russianlife.com/stories/online/we-invented-and-changed-the-world-a-rodchenko-art-gallery/|access-date=2021-08-19|website=Russian Life|language=en}}</ref>

==Soundtracks==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2020}}
To retain its relevance as a propaganda film for each new generation, Eisenstein hoped the score would be rewritten every 20 years. The original score was composed by [[Edmund Meisel]]. A salon orchestra performed the Berlin premiere in 1926. The instruments were flute/piccolo, trumpet, trombone, harmonium, percussion and strings without viola. Meisel wrote the score in twelve days because of the late approval of film censors. As time was so short Meisel repeated sections of the score. Composer/conductor Mark-Andreas Schlingensiepen has reorchestrated the original piano score to fit the version of the film available today.

[[Nikolai Kryukov (composer)|Nikolai Kryukov]] composed a new score in 1950 for the 25th anniversary. In 1985, Chris Jarrett composed a solo piano accompaniment for the movie. In 1986 [[Eric Allaman]] wrote an electronic score for a showing that took place at the 1986 [[Berlin International Film Festival]]. The music was commissioned by the organizers, who wanted to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the film's German premiere. The score was played only at this premiere and has not been released on CD or DVD. Contemporary reviews were largely positive apart from negative comment because the music was electronic. Allaman also wrote an opera about Battleship Potemkin, which is musically separate from the film score.

In commercial format, on DVD for example, the film is usually accompanied by classical music added for the "50th anniversary edition" released in 1975. Three symphonies from [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] have been used, with [[Symphony No. 5 (Shostakovich)|No. 5]], beginning and ending the film, being the most prominent. A version of the film offered by the [[Internet Archive]] has a soundtrack that also makes heavy use of the symphonies of Shostakovich, including his [[Symphony No. 4 (Shostakovich)|Fourth]], [[Symphony No. 5 (Shostakovich)|Fifth]], [[Symphony No. 8 (Shostakovich)|Eighth]], [[Symphony No. 10 (Shostakovich)|Tenth]], and [[Symphony No. 11 (Shostakovich)|Eleventh]].

In an attempt to make the film relevant to the 21st century, [[Neil Tennant]] and [[Chris Lowe]] (of the [[Pet Shop Boys]]) composed a soundtrack in 2004 with the Dresden Symphonic Orchestra. Their soundtrack, released in 2005 as ''[[Battleship Potemkin (album)|Battleship Potemkin]]'', premiered in September 2004 at an open-air concert in [[Trafalgar Square]], London. There were four further live performances of the work with the Dresdner Sinfoniker in Germany in September 2005, and one at the [[Swan Hunter]] shipyard in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] in 2006. 

In 2007, Del Rey & The Sun Kings released a soundtrack for the film.

The avant-garde jazz ensemble [[Club Foot Orchestra]] has also re-scored the film, and performed live accompanying the film with a score by Richard Marriott, conducted by Deirdre McClure. For the 2005 restoration of the film, under the direction of [[Enno Patalas]] in collaboration with Anna Bohn, released on DVD and Blu-ray, the [[Deutsche Kinemathek]] - Museum fur Film und Fernsehen, commissioned a re-recording of the original Edmund Meisel score, performed by the Babelsberg Orchestra, conducted by Helmut Imig. In 2011 the most recent restoration was completed with an entirely new soundtrack by members of the Apskaft group. Contributing members were AER20-200, awaycaboose, Ditzky, Drn Drn, Foucault V, fydhws, Hox Vox, Lurholm, mexicanvader, Quendus, Res Band, -Soundso- and speculativism. The entire film was digitally restored to a sharper image by Gianluca Missero (who records under the name Hox Vox). The new version is available at the [[Internet Archive]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/ApskaftPresentsTheBattleshipPotemkin |title=Apskaft Presents: The Battleship Potemkin |work=Internet Archive |access-date=19 November 2015}}</ref>

A new score for ''Battleship Potemkin'' was composed in 2011 by [[Michael Nyman]], and is regularly performed by the Michael Nyman Band. The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra also composed a new score for the film in 2011, and performed it live to picture at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, D.C. A new electroacoustic score by the composers collective [[Edison Studio]] was first performed live in Naples at Cinema Astra for Scarlatti Contemporanea Festival on 25 October 2017 <ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.associazionescarlatti.it/esecuzione-assoluta-della-sonorizzazione-dal-vivo-de-la-corazzata-potemkin/ |title=Prima esecuzione assoluta della sonorizzazione dal vivo de " La corazzata Potëmkin" - Associazione Scarlatti |date=17 October 2017 |work=Associazione Scarlatti |access-date=7 November 2017 |language=it-IT |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107073549/http://www.associazionescarlatti.it/esecuzione-assoluta-della-sonorizzazione-dal-vivo-de-la-corazzata-potemkin/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and published on DVD <ref>{{cite web |url=http://cinestore.cinetecadibologna.it/bookshop/dettaglio/120 |title=Libri, DVD & Gadgets - Cinestore |last=D-sign.it |website=cinestore.cinetecadibologna.it |language=en |access-date=6 November 2017}}</ref> in 5.1 surround sound by [[Cineteca di Bologna]] in the "[[L'Immagine Ritrovata]]" series, along with a second audio track with a recording of the Meisel's score conducted by Helmut Imig.

The film's centenary in 2025 was marked by the release in cinemas of a restored version by [[Deutsche Kinemathek]] with the Tennant/Lowe score. The [[British Film Institute|BFI]] issued this restored film on Blu-ray along with a CD of the score, while [[Parlophone]] also released the score on remastered CD and on vinyl as a double LP.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/battleship-potemkin-centenary-special-edition-pet-shop-boys|title=Battleship Potemkin centenary celebrated with special edition and cinema release, featuring Pet Shop Boys score | publisher=BFI | date=10 July 2025 | access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref>

==Critical response==
''Battleship Potemkin'' has received acclaim from modern critics. On review aggregate website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an overall [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100% approval rating]] based on 51 reviews, with a rating average of 9.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "A technical masterpiece, ''Battleship Potemkin'' is Soviet cinema at its finest, and its montage editing techniques remain influential to this day."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/battleship_potemkin/|title=Battleship Potemkin (1925)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|access-date=13 April 2020}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|97|22|access-date=January 29, 2025}}<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |title=Battleship Potemkin |id=battleship-potemkin |type=movie |access-date=January 29, 2025}}</ref>

Since its release ''Battleship Potemkin'' has often been cited as one of the finest propaganda films ever made, and is considered one of the greatest films of all time.<ref name="Potem" /><ref name=review1>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1925/battleship-potemkin/ |title=Battleship Potemkin |website=filmcritic.com |access-date=28 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110326214258/http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1925/battleship-potemkin/ |archive-date=26 March 2011}}</ref> The film was named the [[List of films considered the best|greatest film of all time]] at the [[Expo 58|Brussels World's Fair]] in 1958.<ref name=EbertFest /> Similarly, in 1952, ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' magazine cited ''Battleship Potemkin'' as the fourth-greatest film of all time; it was voted within the top ten in the magazine's five subsequent decennial polls, dropping to number 11 in the 2012 poll and number 54 in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/history/ |title=Sight and Sound Historic Polls |publisher=BFI |access-date=26 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122144842/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/history/ |archive-date=22 January 2011 }}</ref>

In 2007, a two-disc, restored version of the film was released on DVD. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's [[Richard Corliss]] named it one of the Top 10 DVDs of the year, ranking it at #5.<ref>{{cite web |last=Corliss |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Corliss |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692079,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212162208/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692079,00.html |archive-date=2007-12-12 |title=Top 10 DVDs |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> It ranked #3 in ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]''{{'}}s "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 3. The Battleship Potemkin |url=http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=3 |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]}}</ref> In April 2011, ''Battleship Potemkin'' was re-released in UK cinemas, distributed by the [[British Film Institute]]. On its re-release, ''[[Total Film]]'' magazine gave the film a five-star review, stating: "nearly 90 years on, Eisenstein's masterpiece is still guaranteed to get the pulse racing".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/battleship-potemkin |title=Battleship Potemkin |work=[[Total Film]] |access-date=5 May 2011}}</ref>

Directors [[Orson Welles]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://filmdoctor.co.uk/2012/11/23/fun-fridays-directors-favourite-films-orson-welles/ |title=Fun Fridays – Director's Favourite Films – Orson Welles |work=Film Doctor |access-date=19 November 2015 |date=23 November 2012 |archive-date=20 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120060332/http://filmdoctor.co.uk/2012/11/23/fun-fridays-directors-favourite-films-orson-welles/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Michael Mann (director)|Michael Mann]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://filmdoctor.co.uk/2012/04/20/fun-fridays-directors-favourite-films-michael-mann/ |title=Fun Fridays – Director's Favourite Films – Michael Mann |work=Film Doctor |access-date=19 November 2015 |date=20 April 2012 |archive-date=19 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219213005/https://filmdoctor.co.uk/2012/04/20/fun-fridays-directors-favourite-films-michael-mann/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Paul Greengrass]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://filmdoctor.co.uk/2013/10/18/fun-fridays-directors-favourite-films-paul-greengrass/ |title=Fun Fridays – Director's Favourite Films – Paul Greengrass |work=Film Doctor |access-date=19 November 2015 |date=18 October 2013 |archive-date=16 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016044522/http://filmdoctor.co.uk/2013/10/18/fun-fridays-directors-favourite-films-paul-greengrass/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> placed ''Battleship Potemkin'' on their list of favorite films, and director [[Billy Wilder]] named it as his all-time favourite film.<ref name="auto"/>

==See also==
{{for timeline|Timeline of the Russian Revolution of 1905}}
{{for outline|Outline of the Russian Revolution of 1905}}
* [[List of cult films]]
* [[List of films considered the best]]
* [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes]], a film review aggregator website

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Sergei Eisenstein (1959). ''Notes of a Film Director''. Foreign Languages Publishing House.
* Marie Seton (1960). ''Sergei M. Eisenstein: a biography''. Grove Press.
* Jay Leyda (1960). ''Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film''. [[George Allen & Unwin]].
* Richard Taylor, Ian Christie, ed. (1994). ''The Film Factory: Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents''. Routledge.
* Bryher (1922). ''Film Problems Of Soviet Russia''. Riant Chateau TERRITET Switzerland.

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wikisource}}
{{Library resources box |label=Battleship Potemkin
  |lcheading=Bronenoset︠s︡ "Potemkin" (Motion picture)}}
* {{IMDb title|0015648|Battleship Potemkin}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=327274}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|2=Battleship Potemkin}}
* [https://russianfilmhub.com/movies/battleship-potemkin-1925/ Battleship Potemkin] on Russian Film Hub
* {{Internet Archive film|id=BattleshipPotemkin}} (version reworked in the USSR as described in {{section link||Production}} above)
* [https://www.mosfilm.ru/cinema/films/bronenosets-potemkin-1905-god-/ ''Battleship Potemkin''] at official [[Mosfilm]] site with English subtitles
* {{cite web |title=Potemkin sailor monument |website=2odessa.com |url=http://www.2odessa.com/wiki/index.php?title=Potemkin_sailor_monument |access-date=22 August 2006 |archive-date=28 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000518/http://www.2odessa.com/wiki/index.php?title=Potemkin_sailor_monument |url-status=dead}} Monument in Odessa, explanation of the mutiny.
* [https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/mutiny-black-sea-revolutionaries-seize-potemkin.html Russo-Japanese War Connections] Rebellion or Mutiny on the ''Potemkin'' had connection to Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05-Russian Navy morale was severely damaged.
* [https://www.weimarcinema.org/dossier/film%20dossiers/chapter/2/0 Dossier on Battleship Potemkin in Berlin 1926 by Oksana Bulgakowa on WeimarCinema.org]

{{Sergei Eisenstein}}
{{Potemkin}}
{{Modernism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battleship Potemkin}}
[[Category:1925 films]]
[[Category:Films originally rejected by the British Board of Film Classification]]
[[Category:1920s historical drama films]]
[[Category:1920s war drama films]]
[[Category:1920s thriller films]]
[[Category:Soviet revolutionary propaganda films]]
[[Category:Soviet avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:Soviet silent feature films]]
[[Category:Soviet epic films]]
[[Category:Soviet historical drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet war drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet thriller films]]
[[Category:Soviet black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Seafaring films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Films about mutinies]]
[[Category:Films about the Russian Revolution of 1905]]
[[Category:Films set in 1905]]
[[Category:Films set in Odesa]]
[[Category:Films set in 20th-century Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Films set on ships]]
[[Category:Films shot in Odesa]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Sergei Eisenstein]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Black Sea in fiction]]
[[Category:Censored films]]
[[Category:Potemkin mutiny]]
[[Category:Soviet silent adventure films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Edmund Meisel]]
[[Category:1920s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1920s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian-language historical drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language war drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language thriller films]]
[[Category:Films about anarchism]]
[[Category:Docudrama films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Nina Agadzhanova]]