Eisenstein film essay

Film Form ESSAYS IN FILM THEORY, edited and translated by JAY LEYDA A HarvestlHB/ Book Harcourt Brace /ovanovich N ew York and London I] ISBN 0-15-630920-3 Copyright 1949 by Harcourt, Brace & Horld, Inc. Copyrif{ht reneu'ed 1977 by lay Leyda

A steady source for his imagination, as artist and as teacher, lay in his consciousness of the artist's real influence in society, an influence to be fully realized only within an equally power­ ful sense of responsibility to society. This dual pull deter­ mined his every decision: in esthetics, for example, it made vii vw INTRODUCTION

To read, for example, about "montage" through the dis­ torting haze of superficiality with which this term has been brought into our studios, has not aided an understanding of Eisenstein's theo�etical writing.

First, in an effort to "prove" his hypotheses, Eisenstein often attempts to reconcile film and physics in ways that are inappropriate and pseudo-scientific. He presents himself, in that sense, as both Eisenstein and amateur Einstein.