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Rating:  - Fascinating example of the early work of a master film-maker
The most noticeable thing about this film is the extremely fast editing. This is fast compared with modern films, but by its contemporaries, it's lightning fast. Eisenstein advocated what he called 'montage', meaning more the juxtaposition of two different or similar images by intercutting or fading between the two to allow the viewer to draw comparisons between the two images. This is sometimes subtle, and at other times blunt (such as the scene with the crowd being slaughtered being intercut with cattle being slaughtered). Nevertheless it allows Eisenstein to make a point that we are treating humans as cattle and also avoids visceral depiction of the killing of the humans, whilst giving us a shocking image that tells us what we need to know. The film is somewhat difficult to follow, even with subtitles, and I felt there were no real points of identification. The humour in the depiction of the Bourgeoisie lightened the tone in places, but the film still seems more like a political manifesto for the Bolsheviks than representation of reality. Years ahead of its time technically, but dated in content.
Rating:  - Wonderfully restored classic
Every Sergei Eisenstein film is essential viewing for students of world cinema. "Strike" is no exception. But this version of "Strike"--with a wonderful score by the Alloy Orchestra and a beautifully restored print--is a fantastic purchase for anyone interested in cinema. Yes, "Strike" is not the epic that "Battleship Potempkin" is. But it's got an energy, a pulsing sense of excitement that has rarely been matched since. It is a real treasure.
Rating:  - Great film, but runs flakey on a Mac
This is a brilliant early film by Eisenstein. It has the marks of a propaganda piece, but the photography is stunning and it is dramatically effective. The new musical accompaniment is very fitting.
There seems to be some problem with the encoding of this disk which makes its play very erratic, at least on a Macintosh DVD drive under OS 9. I have had two disks from Borders and two from Amazon, all of which had the same problem on two different Macs. Sometimes (rarely) the disk would play through. Most of the time, the DVD player would report "Scratched or damaged, or incorrect encoding" More rarely, the DVD player would report that it was missing a file it needed. I haven't had problems with other DVD's, including many from Image Entertainment, so this problem is frustrating and puzzling. I'd be interested to know if others have had problems with this disk. (Post experiences as reviews here)
Rating: - Amazing cinematic expression of class struggle
Eisenstein captures extraordinarily the struggle between labor and capital, displaying brilliant cinematic innovation in the process. The factory workers are not individualized, with certain leaders representing the whole, but shown as a collective whole; both powerful and creative. The factory owner is not one particular boss, but a collage of multiple personalities, to express the impersonal nature of capital and the profit system. The film shows the organizing drive from early meetings of workers, to job actions, to the boss planting spies (innovatively shown both as humans and as devious animals), to the resulting strike and its conclusion. A raw, riveting film that set the stage for Eisenstein's later films, especially "Battleship Potemkin" and "October." A must see for those interested in the labor movement, cinematic and artistic brilliance, or the combination of the two.
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