Monday, October 5, 2009
Einsenstein Reading
I also had a difficult time trying to figure out what montage was. I found the article in general a little hard to follow. To me it seemed to jump from one thing to another and by the time I thought I knew what was going on he went on to another topic. From what I understood he seems to be comparing montage to cinematography. In the article he says "the shot is an element of montage. Montage is an assembly of these elements" (132). It's not a perfect comparison but in when discussing cinematography you think about the elements within a shot and how they are put together to form a larger meaning. Montage is an assembly of the elements like cinematography is an assembly of elements. However, montage seems to add a little more to this description. When discussing the methods of montage in the Japanese theater Eisenstein focuses on the acting style and how their acting ans transitioning effects the viewer. The same person may play many different characters, or the same character with different personalities. This causes the performance to be more emotional and have more meaning. So montage could deal with the technical aspects of film like cinematography, but it can also effect the emotional side of the story.
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I must say, this is not exactly the reading I got from the article. However, I do find it very interesting, especially when looking at "montage" in this way, as related to the movie "Potemkin". The layers of the story and of the emotions takes the flat characters and movement of the story and makes it more intriguing (not to project my own feelings into this comment, but I found the film rather slow moving and practically lacking of a plot). For example, the red flag in the movie. It can first be seen as a rising up against the officers on the ship, then as a unifying symbol between the sailors, then as a defiance against political statements. Peering into the underlying montage elements of the film allows complexity and interest into, what I percieved as, an otherwise boring film.
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