Battleship Potemkin (1925) on Netflix
NR19251h 15mDramaHistoryThrillerWar
In June 1905 the battleship Potemkin lies off Odessa, its crew served borscht from maggot-infested meat. When they refuse to eat, a firing squad is ordered and seaman Vakulinchuk speaks up.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.9/1065,705 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Off Odessa in June 1905, the battleship Potemkin returns from Russia's defeat in the war with Japan. The meat hung outside the galley is crawling with maggots, but the ship's doctor, peering through his pince-nez, rules it fit to eat once washed in brine, and borscht is served. The crew refuses it and a sailor smashes a mess plate. Summoned on deck, the men who did not eat are declared insubordinate: Commander Golikov threatens to hang the crew, a tarpaulin is thrown over the refusers, a priest calls them to repent, and a squad of marines is ordered to fire. Seaman Vakulinchuk appeals to the marines to disobey their orders.
Cast
- Nina Poltavtsevaas Woman With Pince-nez (as N. Poltavtseva)
- Konstantin Feldmanas Student Agitator
- Prokhorenkoas Mother Carrying Wounded Boy
- A. Glaubermanas Wounded Boy
- Beatrice Vitoldias Woman With Baby Carriage
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The rebels' red flag in Battleship Potemkin was actually a white flag, because the orthochromatic black-and-white film stock of the period made red look black; Sergei Eisenstein hand-tinted the flag red in 108 frames for the premiere at the Grand Theatre.
- With fog halting shooting and the film due by year's end although the script was approved only on 4 June, Eisenstein gave up Nina Agadzhanova's eight-episode script and filmed only the battleship mutiny, which took just a few pages, 41 frames, of it.
- Edmund Meisel wrote his score for Battleship Potemkin in twelve days because film censors approved the film late, and repeated sections of the score because time was so short.
- Britain, France and Japan were among the countries that banned Battleship Potemkin for its revolutionary zeal; in the UK it stayed banned until 1954 and was X-rated until 1987.
- Eisenstein cut together three lion statues at the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea — one sleeping, one waking, one rising to its feet — so they appear to be a single lion standing up.
- The film was not banned in Nazi Germany, but Heinrich Himmler issued a directive forbidding SS members from attending screenings, judging the film inappropriate for the troops.
