Watch October (Ten Days that Shook the World) For Free

Simply Perfect

Highly Overrated But Still Good

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I found this silent Soviet Union film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, from directors Sergei M. Eisenstein (Strike, Battleship Potemkin; Ivan the Terrible, Parts I and II) and Grigori Aleksandrov, I was hoping it would be a worthy entry. Basically the events of 1917, in Petrograd, Russia are re-enacted in this documentary style film, from the end of the monarchy in February to the end of the provisional government and the decrees of peace and of land in November of that year. Lenin returns in April, counter-revolutionaries spontaneously revolt and the order of Lenin's arrest occurs in July, by late October the Bolsheviks prepare to strike, these are the ten days that will shake the world. While the Mensheviks waver their opinions, the palace is infiltrated by an advance guard, it is the lead of Anatov-Oveyenko to attack and sign the proclamation that dissolves the provisional government. Starring Vasili Nikandrov as Lenin, Nikolay Popov as Kerenskiy as Boris Livanov as Minister Terestsenko. This film served as a tenth anniversary celebration of the overthrown provisional government and impersonal tribute, it is satirical and overtly political, I found it a bit hard to follow on occasion, and it does not have the same grip as Battleship Potemkin, but with a montage of realistic and dramatic material it has bits that gained my attention, a watchable silent historical epic. Good!

To mark the tenth anniversary of the overthrow of Russia's Provisional Government by the Bolsheviks (dubbed 'the October Revolution'), the Soviet government commissioned a propaganda film to be made depicting the events by Sergei Eisenstein. Fresh off the success of his masterpiece The Battleship Potemkin (1925), Eisenstein was seen as the ideal choice to celebrate one of the most significant revolutions in recent history. American John Reed's book Ten Days That Shook the World was the main inspiration for the film's execution and style. The final film, however, was not to the government's liking, describing it as unintelligible to the masses, with Eistenstein taking full advantage of his freedom of artistic expression. The result is a rapid and highly detailed account, full of Eisenstein's trademark fast editing and metaphorical cutaways.It is useful for the viewer to have at least some prior knowledge of the events that took place and the various figures and parties that were involved, as Eisenstein quickly switches his focus from the lower classes, to the Bolsheviks and Lenin (Vasili Nikandrov), and to the Provisional Party and its leader Aleksandr Kerensky (Nikolay Popov). Even with my, admittedly somewhat limited, prior knowledge, I found the film confusing at times. This, however, is more of a damning indictment of my level of intelligence than a criticism of Eisenstein's abilities as a story teller. I would even go so far as saying that modern film- making was created here, as I have to see a pre-1928 film that is quite so technically innovative as this. It is part reconstructed documentary, part artistic interpretation.It may not be quite up to the epic scale of Potemkin or his two Ivan the Terrible (1944/1958) films, but October does include a set-piece that eclipses even the Odessa steps sequence in Potemkin. After the government have beaten back a workers demonstration, many lay dead or dying. The bridge that they lie on begins to open from the middle, and we see a woman's corpse lie motionless, her long hair being lifted up by the opposing side of the bridge. And a dead horse, still attached to its cart, hangs limply from the edge, eventually falling into the river. It's a quite brilliant moment from Eisenstein, who, seemingly without effort, allows the audience to make an emotional connection to a historic event without having to establish any characters in and amongst the chaos. Not the Soviet masters finest achievement, but certainly his most visually impressive, and possibly the most exciting.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

The film, "Oktyabr" was a Russian propaganda film that was released on January 20, 1928. The film was directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and Sergei M. Eisenstein. The movie portrays the Russian revolution that occurred during World War I. It follows the citizens as they attempt to overthrow the ruling class and the government of Russia in 1918. The silent film was released to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the revolution. In my opinion, the film was more of a documentary than a story being told and it could have been better if the film had followed a few main characters instead of focusing on the population in general. However, the style of the film is excellent. The directors used many innovative filming techniques such as montages that helped the film explain events without spending a great amount of time on one event. The acting in this film is also very good. The actor that portrayed Lenin in the film portrayed his character in a very historically accurate manner. In this movie, the directors used the real places where the events of the revolution took place. The winter palace was used for the final scene of the movie and that is the exact place where the revolution ended just ten years earlier. Since the film was made only ten years after the real revolution, it allowed the writers and directors to get input from many people who were a part of the revolution. Overall this was an excellent Russian propaganda film that portrayed the Russian revolution. The film was historically accurate because it was made only ten years after the real revolution took place. The directors do an amazing job with their filming techniques by using innovative filming techniques such as a montage.

The film Oktyabr tells the story of the overthrow of the provisional government by the Bolsheviks in 1917. Being a history enthusiast I was excited to see this film in film class, but by the end of the movie I was extremely disappointed. The movie was far from being historically accurate and showed more like a recruitment film for the Bolshevik cause. Every group other than the Bolsheviks in the film are depicted as cowardly, stupid, ugly, incompetent ,evil or a mixture of all five . I would go as far to say that the provisional government and the bourgeoisie was depicted as comically evil, grinning fiendishly while killing the herculean exemplar Bolshevik man with umbrellas or gunning down idyllic peaceful protesters. In contrast every Bolshevik man, woman and child is shown as the summit of human purity and self sacrifice working only to better the Bolshevik cause. The film is on its most basic level propaganda, produced during the height of Stalin's Russia.While the accuracy of the historical account is questionable at best and outright revisionist at worst the film can be praised for its advanced film editing techniques. The director of the film Eisenstein was a genius film editor and the movie is riddled with complex film tricks. Eisenstein famously used montages throughout the film in order to get across highly sophisticated symbols. In fact the film was criticized at the time of its release for using too much symbolism which was seen as too difficult for the average Russian peasant to understand.To sum up my opinion of the movie if you enjoy historically accurate movies look somewhere else but if you are interested in the origin of complex film editing you have come to the right place.