Compare and Contrast the Gold Rush and. Battleship Potemkin
Battleship Potemkin is a 1925 silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and produced by Mosfilm. The film presents a dramatized version of the mutiny that took place in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship, Potemkin rebelled against their officers. On the other hand, “The Gold Rush” is a silent film comedy written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin in 1925 where he stars in his Little Tramp role. The film narrates a story of the Gold Rush, where Charlie Chaplin searches for gold in Arkansas. The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the two films by making specific reference to shots, sequence, images, and techniques employed in both scenes.
“The Gold Rush” uses up-close shots in combination with the comedic imagery to bring a new style in silent cinema. There is a scene with the cabin shifting, and tilting of the camera in order to reflect the inner cabin. This technique gives the film an artistic and ingenious appeal. Another interesting scene from “The Gold Rush” is a long shot from outside the cabin showing Charlie Chaplin hanging from the door of the cabin, which balances precariously on the edge of the cliff. This enhances the film by bringing special effects. Unlike other silent pictures such as “The Gold Rush,” Battleship Potemkin uses none of the common techniques used in silent cinema. Close-up shots reveal wrinkles that emanate from many years of hard labor and starvation, and the actors move around as if they are not aware of any filming activity. Eisenstein uses close-up shots, for example in the scene where the women gets shot in the eye to reinforce a feeling of impending doom.
Sequences
In the cinematic history, the scene of the Odessa Steps sequence is one of the most iconic sequences. “The Gold Rush’ tells two separate stories concurrently. The first set of audience view the Tramp-Jim story, which features starvation and eventual success after finding gold mine, the second story deals with romance. Each of the stories has its beginning, middle, and end, and could have been easily produced as three different films. This film lacks sequence because it has two definite stories, which confuses the viewing audience. On the contrary, Eisenstein uses quick cuts of several pieces of ongoing action, close-ups, and reaction shots all combined together to tell one complete story. The Odessa Steps is a famous scene from Battleship Potemkin as one of the most iconic film sequences in cinematic history. This scene depicts a massacre of common citizens by soldiers on the steps. The dramatic graphic patterns and collisions of movements in this sequence create an emotional and psychological impact to the audience. The sequence begins with a few close-up shots of a dark hair of a woman with mouth wide open followed by shorts of citizens running down the steps in a chaotic way. The following shot reveals the source of terror at the top of the steps, showing soldiers carrying riffles chasing people. There are several isolated figures throughout the sequence including, the woman who runs with her son. She moves in opposite direction to the citizens and soldiers running down the steps in a disorganized and chaotic manner.
Images
Eisenstein knew that film montage could have an impact exceeding the individual images. According to Giannetti (2010), editing two or more images together create a third thing or “tertium quid” that brings a greater effect than the individual parts. Eisenstein demonstrates the power of montage in the “Odessa Steps” sequence. One of such is when Eisenstein manipulates the perception of the audience by stretching the crowd’s flight down the steps for seven minutes, duration longer than it would take in real time. The rapid alteration and progression of images in the sequence gives a breathtaking event even greater intuitive impact. The sequence involves image of a runway baby carriage showing how Eisenstein uses montage to evoke both emotional and ideological consciousness among the audience of the film. Just like Eisenstein, Charlie also used location filming for The Gold Rush. Some of the remarkable images from The Gold Rush include the scenes of the Little Tramp eating boiled shoe, battling with a teetering cabin hanging at the edge of a cliff, and performing dance using two forks to bring a comic relieve to the hard living conditions portrayed in the movie.
Technique
Considering the period both films were shot compared with technological innovation and state of art filming techniques, these films are undoubtedly masterpieces. Charlie Chaplin uses up-close shots combined with comic imagery to bring a new style of silent cinema. Charlie Chaplin includes scenes of the cabin shifting and tilting of the camera to reflect the inner cabin, which bring new stylistic filming techniques giving the film an artistic appeal. Eisenstein’s editing technique has also brought revolutionary energy to The Battleship Potemkin, making the film a masterpiece of all time. In the Odessa Steps scene, Eisenstein uses collision of movements and dramatic graphic patterns in the sequence of shots to evoke emotional and psychological impact on the audience.
References:
Giannetti, L. (2010). Understanding movies (2th ed.). 80 Strand
London: Pearson.
Eisenstein, S. (1925). Battleship Potemkin
Chaplin, C. (1925). The Gold Rush
