October

Released Sep 24, 1928

1h 45m

History

Drama

List

93%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

77%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

The October Revolution of 1917 is presented in this documentary-like Soviet silent film. Beginning with the crumbling of the Russian monarchy, the production depicts the growing conflicts at Petrograd, with Soviet hero V.I. Lenin (Vasili Nikandrov) leading the rebellion that results in the overthrow of the tsar's Winter Palace. In addition to its historically rooted narrative, the film is renowned for its inventive use of striking montage imagery.

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

The film remains an interesting oddity rather than entertaining or illuminating. Indeed, watching it today can seem hard work.

Jan 26, 2006

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Much of the montage is reductive and static, but some of the action scenes are genuinely stirring -- when he wasn't editorializing, the man really could cut film.

Jan 1, 2000

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

More interesting as education (albeit with a heavy dose of Russian propaganda) than entertainment.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 11, 2021

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

Still essential viewing for any student of the cinema...a made that made motion pictures the dominant storytelling medium of the past 100 years, from nickelodeons to the Golden Age of the Podcast.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 4, 2021

Full Review

D.F. Taylor

Cinema Quarterly

This film is the work of a master, one of the few directors who have left an indelible stamp on the work of film producers all over the world.

Feb 3, 2021

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Alexander Bakshy

The Nation

Ten Days That Shook the World is replete with magnificent scenes of mass movement, with amazingly observed characters (a gallery of types that can never be forgotten), and with extremely striking and beautiful camera shots.

Feb 21, 2020

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Tony S

It is pretty apparent from the get-go that Eisenstein knew that within a decade it would be seen as nothing but a piece of history. The finale of the agitation trilogy, where the main character, "the people," finally arrives at the culmination of all the hard work. The Soviets finally take power. And despite the fact that a bloody civil war was on the horizon and anyone watching it in 1927 knew that, it's just omitted from the narrative. Not that the director wanted that. He was, of course, explicitly told to wrap it up by cutting a lot of footage. Along with erasing from the narrative a certain Trotsky, despite him being in the thick of things in February. Oh well. Just Stalin things. Either way, the scope is to be admired. The dramatization of the Winter Palace storm and July days is excellent. When you have the whole city under your control, it sure results in a pretty picture, since you can do anything. They even threw a horse from a bridge. Eisenstein's montage theory is used to its fullest. presenting a very blatant yet quite artistic galore of symbolism, contrasting the ideas and propaganda with just a few words and a lot of cuts.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/31/22

Full Review

William L

All the Eisenstein hallmarks are there - the fast pace, the intimately framed shots, the angles, the violence, the Soviet Party-sanctioned storylines, and of course no shortage of frequent edits and montage style that the director is credited with pioneering. It's sweeping, large scale, and has plenty of creative imagery that you wouldn't expect in a cut-and-dry propaganda rehash of the founding of a nation in defiance of centuries of class conflict; the state clearly opened plenty of doors for the director to take advantage of plenty of practical resources that a conventional filmmaker of the period would not have had. But it is still a propaganda docudrama and feels like it all too much at times, relying on the kindred spirit of a proper son or daughter of the Revolution to carry itself, as well as a particular knowledge of some of the secondary conflicts of the period that would have been fresh in the minds of Soviet citizens a decade on, but just don't hit as well a century and half a world later (which is perfectly alright; I was not the target audience). October is absolutely not a boring film, clearly maintaining a distinctive style and a rapid pace, it's just a bit more academic. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/21

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Audience Member

Not as impressive as the stairs scene of Potemkin, but the strength of images, and reflection about an historical time, also impact.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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s r

1001 movies to see before you die. Another socialist propaganda piece.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A touchstone of biographical filmmaking, Eisenstein's re-creation of the Russian revolution is beautifully intense and intensely beautiful. With early-form jump cuts, overlapping frames, and subtly stunning performances (the faces of scared soldiers), it works as both a straight historical account and as an ahead-of-its-time experiment. Would be easier to follow and (therefore) easier to engage with if I only knew more about the uprising, yet it still found its way into my psyche.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

If you are not exceptionally familiar with the Russian Revolution you might find yourself lost sometimes in names and events. Nevertheless the movie is quite interesting, not even for historical reasons, but for taking lessons in film montage! Eisenstein's October must have been more exciting and thrilling that the actual October of 1917.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

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Grigoriy Aleksandrov

Director

Sergei M. Eisenstein

Director

Vasili Nikandrov

V.I. Lenin

Boris Livanov

Terestenko

Nikolay Popov

Kerenskiy

Layaschenko

Konovalov

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Synopsis

The October Revolution of 1917 is presented in this documentary-like Soviet silent film. Beginning with the crumbling of the Russian monarchy, the production depicts the growing conflicts at Petrograd, with Soviet hero V.I. Lenin (Vasili Nikandrov) leading the rebellion that results in the overthrow of the tsar's Winter Palace. In addition to its historically rooted narrative, the film is renowned for its inventive use of striking montage imagery.

Director: Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Sergei M. Eisenstein
Screenwriter: Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Sergei M. Eisenstein, John Reed
Distributor: Grapevine Video, Amkino Corporation
Production Co: Sovkino
Genre: History, Drama
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 24, 1928, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 2, 2016
Runtime: 1h 45m

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