Sergei Eisenstein

The Montage Theory

Eisenstein’s early years January 23rd 1898 - February 11th 1948He was born in Riga, Latvia but his family moved frequently in his early days.Eisenstein came from a middle-class family. His father was an architect and his mother was the daughter of a prosperous merchant.In 1920 he moved to Moscow and began his career in theatre.He was a pioneer in the use of “montage”, he argued that montage was the essence of the cinema.

What is a Montage? The process of selecting, editing and piecing together separate sections of film to form a continuous whole.Eisenstein believed that film montage could create ideas or have an impact beyond the individual images2 or more images edited together create a “tertium quid” (third thing) that makes the whole greater than the sum of individual images.

For Example Eisensteins greatest demonstration of “the power of the montage” comes in his “odessa steps” sequence of his 1925 film “battleship potemkin”The montage allows Eisenstein to manipulate the audiences perception of time by stretching out the crowds flight down the steps for 7 minutes, several times longer than in real life.

Another example would be the famous sequence involving a runaway baby carriage show Eisenstein using montage to arouse emotion amoung the films audience.