Battleship Potemkin (1925)

 

About the events of 1905, the liberal revolution, and made by the Bolsheviks.

Clearly, this is propaganda, agit-prop. Even so, this art is based on a real story.

 

In 1925, the Bolsheviks encouraged artistic freedom. After Stalin took over in the early 1930’s, film makers no longer had the freedom to do what they liked, so Eisenstein left and went to Hollywood, but things did not work out, so he returned to Russia. He made a film about Alexander Nevsky, a Russian hero fighting against the Teutonic West, in 1938. Then in 1939, Stalin and Hitler signed a non-aggression pact, so the movie was pulled until 1941. Eisenstein also made a movie about Ivan the Terrible in 1945 during the time of Stalin, so his depiction of Ivan is favorable. In the second part the characterization of the oprichinski was found unacceptable. He died in 1948 of natural causes.

 

Scenario and script by Sergei Eisenstein

 

 

PART ONE: MEN AND MAGGOTS

 

A huge wave breaks violently over the jetty, raising a sparkling fountain of spray, and

 

                flows turbulently over the stones on the shore.

 

Wave after wave breaks over the jetty, ever more violently, and

 

                flows over the stones on the shore, ever more turbulently. The raging sea  boils.

 

[TITLE:] “REVOLUTION MEANS WAR. THIS -- THIS IS THE ONE LAWFUL, REASONABLE AND

JUST, TRULY GREAT WAR OF ALL THE WARS THAT HISTORY HAS KNOWN. IN RUSSIA THIS

WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED AND BEGUN” 

[Lenin: Collected Works, Vol. 9, p. 212.]

 

Its stark, geometrical beauty distinguishing it, a powerful battleship lies in the anchorage.

 

On the battleship, a sailor ascends a ladder. He is quickly approached by another.

 

[TITLE:] THE SAILORS MATYUSHENKO AND VAKULINCHUK          

 

Matyushenko speaks urgently to Vakulinchuk:

 

[TITLE:] 'We, the sailors of the Potemkin, must support the workers, our brothers, and must stand in the front ranks of the revolution.'

 

Vakulinchuk answers him in agitation and quickly descends the ladder.

 

By night, the silhouette of the battleship stands out starkly and majestically in the anchorage.

 

[TITLE:] THE OFF-DUTY WATCH IN DEEP SLEEP    

 

The lower deck: packed like sardines in a tin, the sleeping sailors lie in canvas hammocks.

 

They sleep in uncomfortable positions and breathe noisily. One sleeping sailor,

 

                another,

 

                a third,

 

                a fourth,

 

                a fifth.

 

A fat boatswain with a brutal face descends the ladder into the lower deck and looks with malice at

 

                the sleeping sailors.

 

He threads his way through the canvas hammocks and

 

                mistrustfully surveys

 

                the sleeping sailors. He allows his gaze to rest

 

                on one of the sleeping men.

 

Continuing to thread his way through the canvas hammocks,

 

                he shifts his gaze quickly from one sleeping sailor to another.

 

[TITLE:] VIGILANT, BUT CLUMSY               

 

Unexpectedly, he slips and almost falls.

 

[TITLE:] HE VENTS HIS ANGER ON A YOUNG MAN               

 

Furiously, the boatswain raises his arm and

 

                lashes the naked back of a young sailor with his pipe chain.

 

The young sailor awakens, looks uncomprehendingly at the boatswain

 

                and speaks out in surprise.

 

The boatswain looks impudently at the young sailor and plays with the chain.

 

The young sailor, stiff with rage and resentment, stares hotly

 

                at the departing boatswain,

 

                turns over with hatred,

 

                and throws his face violently against his pillow.

 

The muscles of his naked back twitch.

 

[TITLE:] INDIGNANTLY   

 

His neighbor lays a sympathetic hand on his shoulder and points out to him the figure of Vakulinchuk on one side.

 

[TITLE:] VAKULINCHUK 

 

Amidst the canvas hammocks, naked to the waist, Vakulinchuk, holding a leaflet in his hand, speaks with passion and resolution to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'Comrades, the time has come when we must speak out.'

 

Vakulinchuk's whole body breathes hatred. The sailors awaken

 

                one by one.

 

Vakulinchuk turns to the sailors with the appeal:

 

[TITLE:] 'What are we waiting for? All Russia has risen. Are we to be the last?'

 

He continues his speech passionately.

 

A sailor with a sickly face assents to everything he says,

 

                and a sailor with a big moustache impatiently interrupts him and demands the beginning, of action.

 

Again, the sailor with the sickly face utters a few fighting words.

 

Firmly and manfully, Vakulinchuk calls for battle. Again, the sailor with the big moustache demands the beginning of action.

 

All the sailors listen with attention and fellow-feeling to the words of Vakulinchuk.

 

[TITLE:] MORNING           

 

A gloomy-looking officer, his hands in his pockets, walks along the deck.

Suddenly he notices that

 

                a crowd of sailors have gathered around a carcass of meat.

 

The crowd of sailors grows larger

 

                and larger.

 

A senior officer with a proud, weakly aristocratic face steps out of a cabin, and,

 

                pompously, his hands clasped behind his back, begins to walk along the deck,

 

                but he soon stops and

 

                looks contemptuously

 

                at the sailors surging around the carcass of meat.

 

The eyes of the senior officer fill with malice when he notices the figure of Vakulinchuk walking past the carcass of meat.

 

The crowd of sailors excitedly inspect the carcass of meat.

 

The senior officer moves away and

 

                soon reappears on the upper deck, above the heads of the sailors.

 

The legs of the approaching senior officer draw near to the handrail.

 

The senior officer looks at the sailors with such menace that

 

                they timidly press closer to one another. The legs of the officer turn away.

 

The senior officer goes off, and the crowd of sailors surges with ever-increasing movement.

 

[TITLE:] 'We've had enough of eating rotten meat!'

 

Again, the faces of the sailors turn with indignation to inspect the carcass of rotten meat.

 

The indignation of the sailors grows.

 

[TITLE:] 'A dog wouldn't eat it!'

 

Again and again, the faces of the sailors turn to inspect the carcass of rotten meat.

 

The crowd of sailors around the carcass bubbles like a whirlpool.

 

The senior officer returns -- with the ship's surgeon, a small short-sighted man, his courage comically mustered.

 

With an authoritative expression, the surgeon examines and sniffs at the carcass of rotten meat,

 

                turning it over squeamishly.

 

Vakulinchuk, standing in front of the sailors, indignantly points out the

rotten meat to the surgeon.

 

[TITLE:] SHIP'S SURGEON SMIRNOV           

 

The surgeon heatedly rebuts Vakulinchuk,

 

                but Vakulinchuk says bitterly:

 

[TITLE:] 'It's so high it could walk overboard!'

 

Vakulinchuk looks angrily at the surgeon.

 

The surgeon slowly and importantly removes his pince-nez,

 

                folds its two eye-pieces together,

 

                raises them to his eye,

 

                and examines the meat through the folded eye-pieces of his pince-nez.

 

The meat is visibly infested with maggots.

 

However, the surgeon does not agree with Vakulinchuk that the meat is rotten,

 

                and agitatedly waves his pince-nez about.

 

[TITLE:] 'These are not maggots.'

 

Through the folded eye-pieces of the surgeon's pince-nez, it is evident that the meat is swarming with large maggots.

 

Vakulinchuk and the sailors look with fury at the heartless, typically Tsarist official, as loathsome himself as a maggot.

 

The surgeon, having assumed an air of indifference, replaces his pince-nez and, rolling his eyes, says sharply and dryly to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'They are the dead larvae of flies.  They can be washed off with

vinegar.'

 

He speaks peremptorily, cutting the air with his forefinger.

 

Then, carefully and fastidiously, he raises the end of the carcass and turns to the senior officer for support.

 

He swings the end of the carcass.

 

The senior officer, interesting himself in the meat, also raises the end of the carcass -- carefully and fastidiously.

 

Vakulinchuk knocks the end of the carcass out of the surgeon's hand and says angrily to him:

 

[TITLE:] 'Russian prisoners-of-war in Japan eat better than us.'

 

                and, pointing at the rotten, maggoty meat, he shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'We've had enough of eating rotten meat!'

 

The surgeon walks away hurriedly,

 

                trying to pacify the sailors.

 

The senior officer also tries to soothe the sailors, but he quickly

 

                joins the enraged surgeon.

 

The surgeon, breaking into a violent frenzy, shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'The meat is good. There's nothing more to be said.'

 

Continuing to shout angrily, he stands very erect,

 

                his hands by the side of his uniform, but,

 

                suddenly, from fear, his head sinks deeply into his shoulders when he sees

 

                the sailors, Vakulinchuk at their head, moving quickly and boldly forwards.

 

Helplessly, the surgeon jerks up his shoulders, and looks for assistance to the senior officer,

 

                who maintains a proud and majestic pose.

 

Frightened, the surgeon

 

                scurries round the back of the senior officer. The senior officer, frozen in his proud and majestic pose, watches contemptuously

 

                as the sailors approach.

 

The senior officer calmly and slowly turns his back on them,

 

                and moves further away with the surgeon.

 

Confidently, the sailors follow them.

 

The senior officer and the surgeon depart quickly,

 

                and the sailors drop back.

 

The sailors continue to crowd around the carcass of meat.

 

A malicious, fierce-faced officer appears and

 

                begins to shout at the sailors.

 

[TITLE:] SENIOR OFFICER GILYAROVSKY

 

Officer Gilyarovsky roughly disperses the crowd of sailors.

 

Furiously, he swears at them and

 

                shouts.

 

Then he goes up to the boatswain, who proceeds himself to drive the sailors away from the carcass of meat.

 

A fat cook sniffs squeamishly at the carcass of rotten, maggoty meat and bears it off.

 

In the ship's galley, he begins

 

                to hack at the carcass with an axe.

 

Sailors indignantly approach and tell him that the meat is rotten, but he does not stop hacking at the carcass.

 

More sailors approach and try to prevent him from hacking at the rotten meat.

 

The axe hacks the carcass into pieces.

 

The sailors try to tear the rotten meat from him, but he swears at them and

 

                continues his work.

 

The axe hacks the carcass into pieces.

 

On deck, the muzzle of a cannon is being cleaned.

 

Seated on the muzzle, a sailor cleans it.

 

A cleaning-rod is pushed down the muzzle of the cannon.

 

Two sailors polish a copper capstan.

 

Again, a cleaning-rod is pushed down the muzzle of the cannon.

 

The sailor on the muzzle withdraws the cleaning-rod.

 

Two sailors polish a copper capstan.

 

Two sailors polish some copper engine-parts.

 

A third pair of sailors clean a chain.

 

Two sailors polish a copper capstan.

 

One of the two sailors cleaning the chain stops work and begins to converse with his comrade.

 

Borsch from the rotten meat bubbles in a cauldron. In the ship's mess a detachment of sailors begin

 

                to let down the tables which hang by ropes from the ceiling.

 

One file of sailors leaves the ship's mess,

 

                and, then, another.

 

Borsch from the rotten meat bubbles in a cauldron.

 

The fat boatswain with the brutal face enters, playing with his pipe-chain,

 

                 and walks between the empty tables which swing rhythmically on ropes from the ceiling, and,

 

                with an important air, he stops and gives his orders.

 

Some sailors begin to arrange tureens on the tables.

 

The tables with the tureens upon them swing rhythmically on ropes from the ceiling.

 

Borshch from the rotten meat bubbles in a cauldron.

 

Some sailors can be seen through a grating.

 

A group of sailors sit by the edge of one side of the battleship.

 

One of them, holding a dried fish in his hand, talks indignantly.

 

Another cuts off a piece of black bread.

 

The sailor with the fish is full of anger and hatred.

 

[TITLE:] IMPOTENT FURY SWEEPS OVER THE GROUP OF SAILORS 

 

The sailor with the fish fits the head of it beneath a ring on the deck and

 

                forcefully

 

                tears it off.

 

Some sailors can be seen through a grating.

 

A pile of salt on a rag and a hunk of black bread.

 

One young sailor snaps off a piece of black bread and chews it for his dinner.

 

Mugs are filled with fresh water from taps.

 

Near the pile of salt on the rag and the hunk of black bread -- a mug of water.

 

One young sailor chews, and drinks water from the mug.

 

As soon as the young sailor finishes drinking, he sprinkles salt on the bread, and his neighbor takes the mug and drinks.

 

Senior officer Gilyarovsky descends the ladder into the ship's mess.

 

Several sailors stand to attention, but do not salute him.

 

A young sailor salutes, and

 

                Gilyarovsky carelessly waves his hand.

 

Frowning at Gilyarovsky, the young sailor lowers his hand.

 

A wicked expression on his face, Gilyarovsky appears to consider something.

 

The sailors do not meet his eyes and

 

                quickly go out, one

 

                after another.

 

A smile of malicious triumph appears on Gilyarovsky's face. He turns sharply and

 

                moves rapidly between the tables.

 

The tables with the tureens upon them swing rhythmically on ropes from the ceiling.

 

Gilyarovsky stops by a cupboard, opens the door of it, and inclines his head.

 

The tables with the tureens upon them swing rhythmically on ropes from the ceiling.

 

Gilyarovsky shakes his head significantly.

 

A table laid with empty tureens and with black bread upon it swings rhythmically on ropes from the ceiling.

 

Indignant, Gilyarovsky

 

                quickly walks out of the ship's mess.

 

[TITLE:] THE SHIP'S STORE            

 

Some sailors stand by the little window of the ship's store, buying food.

 

In the window

 

                tins of food

 

                appear fleetingly

 

                in the hands of the sailors.

 

One of the sailors sees Gilyarovsky approaching.

 

Gilyarovsky looks wickedly

 

                at the sailors.

 

His gaze fixes tensely upon them, but he turns quickly and departs.

 

The sailors follow Gilyarovsky with their eyes. When he is no longer in sight, they continue

 

                to buy food.

 

On the captain's bridge, the senior officer with the weakly aristocratic face looks through his binoculars. Gilyarovsky goes up to him and reports on the behavior of the sailors. Together, they descend the ladder,

 

                enter the ship's mess,

 

                and walk between the suspended tables,

 

                considering the situation which has developed.

 

A table laid with empty tureens and with black bread upon it swings rhythmically on ropes from the ceiling.

 

The two senior officers, conversing all the while,

 

                begin

 

                to ascend

 

                the ladder.

 

The sailors talk uneasily among themselves.

 

The senior officer enters the room next to the ship's galley and

 

                gives orders to the cook.

 

The cook opens the door to the galley, and the cooking range in the galley becomes visible,

 

                and the saucepans,

 

                and the other cook at work.

 

The senior officer completes his orders to the first cook.

 

The second cook walks out of the galley, salutes and

 

                reports to the senior officer.

 

The senior officer angrily upbraids the first cook.

 

When the second cook has reported,

 

                the senior officer departs.

 

A young sailor is washing some plates,

 

                 and another, painstakingly, dries them.

 

Dinner for the 'gentlemen officers' is being prepared.

 

The washing and the drying of plates goes on.

 

With a characteristic movement, the young sailor washing the plates wipes his nose with his hand.

 

He continues to wash the plates,

 

                a second sailor -- to lay the table for dinner,

 

                the third -- painstakingly to dry the plates.

 

The young sailor washing the plates continues to hand them to

 

                the other young sailor who, painstakingly, dries them.

 

The young sailor washes an earthenware plate, on the rim of which is a circular inscription.

 

He is whistling,

 

                 but the inscription on the plate attracts his attention.

 

He leans his head towards the plate and

 

                begins slowly to turn it in his hands.

 

Moving his head from one side to the other,

 

                he reads the circular inscription:

 

[TITLE:] 'Give us this day   '

 

                and he repeats these words aloud.

 

Continuing to revolve the plate in his hands, he reads further from the inscription on its rim:

 

[TITLE:] '               our daily bread.'

 

His face breaks into a scowl.

 

He begins carefully to examine

 

                the inscription on the plate.

 

Involuntarily repeating the words aloud, he looks with loathing at

 

                the inscription on the plate,

 

                and becomes thoughtful.

 

Revolving the plate rapidly in his hands,

 

                he looks intently at it and

 

                bitterly pronounces the words of the inscription.

 

He raises the plate high and,

 

                having swept his hands down

 

                and up,

 

                he hurls it

 

                violently

 

                down

 

                and smashes it to pieces against the table.

 

The young sailor straightens up and sees that

 

                the covers on the table for the dinner of the 'gentlemen officers' have

been upset.

 

 

 

 

PART TWO: DRAMA ON THE QUARTER-DECK

 

The bugle sounds

 

                shrilly and uneasily.

 

Seen from above -- past the muzzles of the cannons menacingly overhanging -- the sailors quickly fill the quarter-deck, forming themselves in double file along either side of the deck. At the prow of the battleship the flag of St. Andrew flutters in the wind.

 

The bugler sounds his call.

 

The petty officers arrange themselves in single file in front of the sailors.

 

A group of officers fall in behind the hatch in the middle of the deck.

 

[TITLE:] COMMANDER GOLIKOV                

 

From the hatch appears the figure of Commander Golikov, resolutely ascending the ladder.

 

The officers salute him.

 

Commander Golikov steps onto the deck and

 

                salutes.

 

He walks up to a capstan and

 

                stands upon it.

 

The sailors in their ranks stand stiffly to attention,

 

                and so do the petty officers.

 

Nobody stirs. The muzzles of the cannons hang menacingly over the ranks.

 

Commander Golikov, one hand by the side of his frock-coat, the other behind

his back, looks threateningly round the motionless rows of sailors.

 

The officers are at the salute.

 

Restraining his fury, Commander Golikov orders:

 

[TITLE:] 'Those satisfied with the borshch --'

 

A pause.

 

[TITLE:] '-- two paces forward!'

 

He raises an admonishing hand.

 

A number of petty officers step hesitantly forward.

 

[TITLE:] THE PETTY OFFICERS     

 

The petty officers who have kept rank falter. After a while, one of them takes two steps forward. The officers stand motionless, at the salute.

 

Only two of the petty officers have kept rank.

 

                Whereupon, two of the sailors break rank and step forward.

 

Commander Golikov, one hand by the side of his frock-coat, the other behind

his back, looks threateningly about him.

 

A young petty officer, not knowing what to do, mechanically fingers the strap

running over his shoulder.

 

The muzzles of the cannons hang menacingly over a motionless rank of sailors.

 

The senior petty officer looks apprehensively at the men who have not moved.

 

[TITLE:] 'Come on!'

 

The young petty officer, not knowing what to do, mechanically fingers the

strap running over his shoulder.

 

Enraged, Commander Golikov shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'Hang the rest on the yard-arm!'

 

                and he points

 

                at the mast.

 

A young officer with a small moustache, turning his eyes in the direction of

the mast, can hardly repress a smile.

 

The words of the Commander strike terror in the hearts of the sailors.

 

They turn their heads in the direction of the mast.

 

Before the eyes of one old sailor, there begins to swim

 

                the vision of the sailors hanging on the yard-arm.

 

The old sailor looks fearfully in the direction of the mast.

 

The two petty officers turn their eyes towards

 

                the mast.

 

One of the petty officers turns towards the other with a nervous smile.

 

Commander Golikov shakes his hand threateningly.

 

The tensely smiling face of the petty officer immediately becomes serious.

 

Commander Golikov fixes his eyes ominously on the sailors.

 

The petty officer is stiff with fright.

 

Commander Golikov shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'Call out the guard!'

 

                and does not remove his gaze from the sailors.

 

Seen from above -- past the muzzles of the cannons menacingly overhanging --

a sailor breaks rank and quickly runs past the gun-turret.

 

[TITLE:] MATYUSHENKO BREAKS RANK AND EDGES TOWARDS THE GUN-TURRET              

 

Matyushenko exhorts the sailors.

 

The sailor returns and runs quickly up to the Commander.

 

Matyushenko says to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'To the turret ',

 

                and he points at the gun-turret.

 

The sailors convey the message one to another:

 

[TITLE:] 'To the turret.'

 

Matyushenko directs the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'To the turret.'

 

The sailors quickly convey Matyushenko's direction one to another.

 

The sailors in rank, their faces gloomy, stand motionless.

 

Seen from above -- past the muzzles of the cannons menacingly overhanging -- the armed guard, dressed in black uniforms, move past the gun-turret.

 

Two evil-faced officers converse agitatedly.

 

Beneath the muzzles of the cannons menacingly overhanging, past the ranks of sailors, the guard move, rifles in hand.

 

The officers exchange glances with one another significantly.

 

The guard pass by the ranks of sailors

 

                and fail into line in front of the Commander.

 

Matyushenko turns to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'Lads       '

 

He shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'It is time!'

 

The sailors break rank and,

 

                quickly,

 

                according to Matyushenko's direction,

 

                race towards

 

                the gun-turret.

 

[TITLE:] MOST OF THE SAILORS ARE GATHERED BY THE GUN-TURRET       

 

Seen from above -- past the muzzles of the cannons menacingly overhanging -- most of the sailors have gathered by the gun-turret,

 

                 and only a small knot of sailors remain on the prow of the battleship.

 

From this knot of sailors, a number detach themselves and run towards the gun-turret.

 

Senior officer Gilyarovsky frowns viciously.

 

The crowd of sailors is agitated.

 

Gilyarovsky, raising his hand, shouts at the sailors remaining on the prow of the battleship:

 

[TITLE:] 'Stop! Into rank!'

 

The sailors remaining on the prow of the battleship look in terror

 

                at the infuriated Gilyarovsky, and

 

                try to run towards the gun-turret, but they are driven back by the officers.

 

The captain of the guard awaits the orders of the Commander.

 

[TITLE:] THEY TRY TO MAKE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE ADMIRAL'S HATCH         

 

Some of the sailors remaining on the prow of the battleship advance towards

the admiral's hatch.

 

Commander Golikov shouts at them in fury:

 

[TITLE:] 'Back, you villains! This is no way for you!'

 

                and he springs at the sailors with his fists,

 

                catches one of them, and

 

                hurls him at the feet of the other sailors, and then

 

                catches another.

 

The sailors raise their fallen comrade.

 

Commander Golikov shouts at the sailors in fury:

 

[TITLE:] 'I'll shoot you like dogs!'

 

                and he shakes his fist threateningly.

 

The sailor looks bitterly at him and

 

                rejoins his comrades.

 

Senior officer Gilyarovsky

 

                commands the guard to turn about towards the sailors remaining on the prow of the battleship,

 

                climbs up onto the capstan,

 

                and, with a triumphant smirk, orders:

 

[TITLE:] 'Cover them with a tarpaulin!'

 

Three petty officers break rank.

 

[TITLE:] 'Aye, aye, sir.'

 

They come to a halt,

 

                salute,

 

                then turn and

 

                go back, one

 

                after another. Two more petty officers follow them.

 

A triumphant smirk on his lips, Gilyarovsky twirls his moustache.

 

The petty officers take hold of a tarpaulin.

 

Gilyarovsky continues to twirl his moustache.

 

The petty officers

 

                carry the tarpaulin

 

                past the guard. One of the sailors in the guard turns his head and looks dejectedly at the tarpaulin.

 

The petty officers continue to carry the tarpaulin past the guard.

 

The sailor in the guard who had looked at the tarpaulin turns his head back and stands upright.

 

The petty officers carry the tarpaulin past the guard.

 

The sailor in the guard dejectedly lowers his head.

 

The petty officers with the tarpaulin draw close to the sailors remaining on the prow of the battleship, throw the tarpaulin down on to the deck and begin to unroll it.

 

The sailors gathered by the gun-turret follow tensely the actions of the petty officers and the guard.

 

[TITLE:] 'Cover them!'

 

The petty officers unroll

 

                the tarpaulin.

 

The knot of sailors remaining on the prow of the battleship press themselves in terror against the handrail of the deck, covering their faces with their hands.

 

The petty officers raise

 

                the tarpaulin

 

                and cover the sailors with it.

 

The tarpaulin

 

                covers the sailors.

 

The guard stand motionless, rifles at ease.

 

An officer approaches.

 

[TITLE:] 'Attention!'

 

The file of petty officers

 

                and the officers

 

                brace themselves.

 

The sailors in the guard stiffen.

 

The guard stand in front of the knot of sailors covered with the tarpaulin. Gilyarovsky runs up to the guard.

 

The muzzles of the cannons look menacingly down.

 

The reflection of the battleship dances on the waves.

 

The ship's priest appears on the deck and raises his hands to the sky.

 

[TITLE:] 'Lord, let these sinners understand.'

 

Some of the sailors covered with the tarpaulin fall to their knees.

 

The priest raises his cross and speaks.

 

Senior officer Gilyarovsky orders:

 

[TITLE:] 'At the tarpaulin -- aim!'

 

The sailors in the guard load, and

 

                raise their rifles

 

                to the shoulder.

 

The sailors in the guard consider with horror the imminent shooting of the knot of sailors covered with the tarpaulin and

 

                lower their heads.

 

Several of the sailors covered with the tarpaulin are on their knees.

 

The heads of the sailors in the guard are dejectedly lowered, but,

 

                on the command,

 

                the sailors raise their rifles to the shoulder.

 

Three officers look on tensely.

 

The priest, counting off the seconds, mechanically slaps his cross against his palm

 

                several times.

 

The face of a young petty officer twitches with fear. Tormentedly counting off the tense seconds, he strokes the knife in his belt.

 

Gilyarovsky shouts furiously.

 

Almost all the sailors covered with the tarpaulin have fallen to their knees.

 

Standing in a row, the officers are motionless.

 

The sailors in the guard level the muzzles of their rifles

 

                and aim at the knot of sailors covered with the tarpaulin.

 

The sailors standing near the gun-turret look on with terror

 

                as the guard aim their rifles at the knot of sailors covered with the tarpaulin.

 

The priest slaps his cross several times more against his palm.

 

It is as if time had stopped                  the deathly hush before the storm.

 

On a life-belt, the clear inscription Prince Potemkin Tavrichesky.

 

The prow of the battleship -- with a Tsarist eagle.

 

The bugler holds his bugle in readiness.

 

The tension is at its peak. Vakulinchuk makes a decisive movement.

 

[TITLE:] VAKULINCHUK DECIDES               

 

Gilyarovsky orders the guard:

 

[TITLE:] 'Fire!'

 

Vakulinchuk shouts to the guard:

 

[TITLE:] 'Brothers!'

 

With horror on his face, he again shouts to the guard:

 

[TITLE:] 'Who are you shooting at?'

 

A sailor in the guard continues to take aim.

 

[TITLE:] THE RIFLES WAVER        

 

Several sailors in the guard lower their rifles. The incident has reached  crisis point.

 

Gilyarovsky, raising his fists, shouts at the guard in fury:

 

[TITLE:] 'Shoot!'

 

One after another, the sailors in the guard lower their rifles.

 

One of the sailors in the guard does not know what to do.

 

[TITLE:] 'Shoot!'

 

His fists flying, Gilyarovsky throws himself

 

                at the guard who have refused to shoot at the sailors on the prow of the battleship,

 

                 and he shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'Shoot, you villains!'

 

The priest, his cross raised, stiffens with terror.

 

Gilyarovsky's face is distorted with rage.

 

The sailors in the guard,

 

                one after another,

 

                return their rifles to the position at ease,

 

                 or lower the muzzles.

 

Again Gilyarovsky shouts,

 

                and hurls himself at the guard with his fists,

 

                and tries to snatch one of the sailor's rifles.

 

Matyushenko shouts to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'Seize the rifles, comrades!'

 

He races to get a rifle.

 

Gilyarovsky snatches the sailor's rifle.

 

Vakulinchuk gives orders to the sailors.

 

The storm has burst. Sailors race for the rifles.

 

Sailors encircle Gilyarovsky.

 

Vakulinchuk shouts to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'Smash the dragons! Smash them!'

 

He shouts again:

 

[TITLE:] 'Smash every one of them!'

 

He continues to shout.

 

The sailors remaining on the prow of the battleship fling off the tarpaulin and

 

                 run towards

 

                the group of officers.

 

The sailors encircle the officers.

 

One sailor tries to snatch Gilyarovsky's rifle.

 

The sailors on the prow of the battleship, having flung off the tarpaulin, run quickly.

 

Sailors in the guard raise their rifles.

 

The tarpaulin, picked up by the wind, descends slowly to the deck.

 

The sailors knock the officers down

 

                and attack them.

 

Sailors with rifles run rapidly around the upper deck.

 

The flag of St Andrew flutters

 

                above the fighting on the battleship.

 

The sailors attack the officers

 

                and the Commander.

 

Sailors with rifles run rapidly around the decks.

 

Sailors rush to the armory,

 

                and one of them

 

                quickly dispenses rifles

 

                to the sailors who come running up,

 

                one

 

                after another

 

                without interruption.

 

 

Gilyarovsky and Commander Golikov start to descend the admiral's hatch, but Golikov is seized by sailors.

 

Elsewhere, sailors attack an officer.

 

Golikov throws off the sailors.

 

The sailors knock the officer down onto the tarpaulin.

 

Elsewhere, Matyushenko, with other sailors, attacks a group of petty officers.

 

The flag of St Andrew flutters.

 

Near the admiral's hatch, the young officer with the small moustache repels the sailors' attacks.

 

Sailors with rifles run rapidly around the decks.

 

The sailors roll the officer up in the tarpaulin.

 

Rifles,

 

                one

 

                after another,

 

                 are passed through

 

                to the sailors who come running up.

 

The sailors roll the officer up in the tarpaulin.

 

Gilyarovsky, armed with a rifle, chases after Vakulinchuk.

 

Vakulinchuk climbs across a circular bastion and lets himself drop,

 

                trying to hide from him.

 

From a hatch protrudes a hand with a crucifix,

 

                standing out clearly against the background of the grating.

 

Vakulinchuk, raising himself slightly, grasps the handrail near the hatch.

 

From the hatch appears the figure of the priest, cross in hand, ascending the ladder.

 

Vakulinchuk looks at him uncomprehendingly.

 

The priest speaks to him:

 

[TITLE:] 'Fear God,'

 

                and stretches out the cross to him.

 

The crucifix stands out against the background of the grating.

 

Matyushenko and his comrades attack the officers.

 

Vakulinchuk shouts at the priest:

 

[TITLE:] 'Get out of the way, you sorcerer!'

 

                and he pushes him

 

                down.

 

Running up, Gilyarovsky raises the butt of his rifle against Vakulinchuk,

 

                 but Vakulinchuk seizes the rifle and tries to tear it from him.

 

The sailors roll the officer up in the tarpaulin. He resists, clutching at a ring on the deck.

 

Vakulinchuk and Gilyarovsky fight for possession of the rifle.

 

The officer lets go of the ring. The sailors drag him away from it.

 

For a moment appear the legs of Vakulinchuk and Gilyarovsky, fighting for possession of the rifle.

 

Vakulinchuk runs down the ladder, but, again,

 

                for a moment appear the legs

 

                of Vakulinchuk and Gilyarovsky, fighting for possession of the rifle.

 

On the deck, the crowd of sailors continues to attack the officers.

 

The priest, stepping out of the hatch, extends his cross to Vakulinchuk.

 

At that moment, Gilyarovsky seizes the rifle from Vakulinchuk.

 

The crucifix falls

 

                and sticks upright into the floor of the deck.

 

The priest falls

 

                into the hatch

 

                and, hitting his head against a pipe, loses consciousness.

 

Vakulinchuk

 

                quickly runs down

 

                the ladder into the hatch,

 

                chased by Gilyarovsky.

 

Vakulinchuk turns, sees

 

                the crucifix stuck into the floor of the deck, and

 

                runs on.

 

Through the ship's galley an officer runs,

 

                seeking safety from the sailors.

 

Up onto the wardroom piano

 

                an officer clambers, struggling with the sailors pursuing him.

 

He treads on the keys

 

                and on the candelabra,

 

                and, having got on top of the piano, he fires his revolver at the sailors,

 

                but the sailors pursuing him drag him down from the piano,

 

                upturning him.

 

An officer hangs by his hands from the muzzle of a cannon.

 

In the wardroom, the sailors beat the officer against the floor.

 

On one side of the battleship, an officer notices a sailor swarming along a ladder in pursuit of him.

 

The officer, seeking safety from the sailor, clambers up the side of the battleship, clutching at the holdfasts, but the sailor's leg kicks him over the head. The officer clambers back, and the sailor descends after him.

 

In the wardroom, the sailors continue

 

                to attack the officer.

 

Two sailors run up the ladder to a hatch.

 

On the side of the battleship, the sailor, descending by the holdfasts, again kicks the officer over the head.

 

In the wardroom, a sailor attacks the officer with a music-stool.

 

Hanging over the arm of a chair, only the hand of the dead officer can be seen.

 

On the side of the battleship, the sailor propels

 

                the officer into the sea.

 

The water receives the officer greedily.

 

On a life-belt, the clear inscription: 'Prince Potemkin Tavrichesky.'

 

Sailors with rifles run rapidly around the decks.

 

With the butt of his rifle,

 

                a sailor attacks

 

                an officer who has run to the end of the muzzle of a cannon.

 

The officer loses balance,

 

                somersaults in the air,

 

                and falls

 

                into the sea,

 

                where he struggles to get out.

 

Smirnov, the small, short-sighted ship's surgeon, tries to conceal himself behind a row of hose-pipes,

 

                but he is detected

 

                and encircled by sailors,

 

                who drag him away.

 

He clings helplessly to a rope.

 

The sailors try to tear him from the rope,

 

                and they carry him away,

 

                 head downwards,

 

                the rope trailing after him,

 

                down a metal ladder.

 

In his deathly fear

 

                he clutches with his hands at the steps.

 

The priest, fallen into the hatch, opens one eye for an instant and closes it.

 

Smirnov clings with his hands to the steps.

 

On the ladder, the legs

 

                of the sailors and of the struggling officer.

 

On the deck, sailors with rifles hunt down the fleeing officers.

 

Ship's surgeon Smirnov

 

                is snatched up by a couple of sailors.

 

With a swing, they hurl him

 

                overboard.

 

Head downwards, he flies through the air and

 

                falls into the sea,

 

                raising a fountain of spray and

 

                foam.

 

[TITLE:] GO AND FEED YOUR MAGGOTS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA         !

 

And on a cable hang the pince-nez of ship's surgeon Smirnov -- those same pince-nez through which, with indifference, he regarded the maggoty meat.

 

On the deck, the sailors continue to attack the officers.

 

[TITLE:] 'Comrades! The ship is in our hands!'

 

The sailors on the deck throw their caps high in the air with joy.

 

The smashed keys of the piano: evidence of the struggle in the wardroom.

 

On the decks, the sailors continue to hunt down the officers.

 

[TITLE:] FLOWING WITH BLOOD, VAKULINCHUK SEEKS SAFETY FROM THE BESTIAL

GILYAROVSKY . ..

 

Gilyarovsky watches closely,

 

                as Vakulinchuk climbs onto a yard-arm

 

                and moves along it.

 

Gilyarovsky, his rifle in his hand, draws closer to Vakulinchuk,

 

                not once lowering his gaze from him.

 

Vakulinchuk looks at Gilyarovsky.

 

Gilyarovsky turns,

 

                takes cover behind a buttress,

 

                aims with his rifle

 

                at Vakulinchuk on the yard-arm,

 

                carefully screwing up one eye,

 

                and he fires.

 

Vakulinchuk clutches the back of his head with his hand.

 

Gilyarovsky looks at Vakulinchuk.

 

Vakulinchuk, mortally wounded, falls from the yard-arm and,

 

                catching hold of some ropes,

 

                slips down the ropes

 

                into the cradle they form above the sea.

 

The sailors on the deck throw their caps high in the air with joy.

 

The ropes descend on a pulley, and

 

                the unconscious Vakulinchuk slips down towards the sea in the cradle they form.

 

A sailor shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'Vakulinchuk's overboard!'

 

                and runs along the yard-arm,

 

                 followed by a second sailor, and a third.

 

Grasping the ropes,

 

                they hasten to the aid of Vakulinchuk.

 

Vakulinchuk lies on his back in the cradle of ropes, his head hanging down.

 

[TITLE:] 'Save Vakulinchuk!'

 

The sailors jump into the water.

 

Vakulinchuk hangs over the cradle of ropes above the water,

 

                and he falls into the sea.

 

The sailors quickly swim

 

                towards the sinking Vakulinchuk.

 

The sailors slowly carry

 

                the body of the dead Vakulinchuk up the gangway.

 

[TITLE:] AND HE WHO WAS THE FIRST TO TAKE UP THE CRY OF REBELLION WAS THE FIRST TO FALL AT THE HAND OF THE EXECUTIONER   

 

A cutter, with sailors in file on either side of the deck and with the body of Vakulinchuk on high,

 

                moves

 

[TITLE:]                 TOWARDS THE SHORE  

 

The passage of the cutter, with the body of Vakulinchuk, hero and victim of  the rebellion, on high

 

                gives impetus

 

                and intensity

 

                to the noble spirit of mourning and triumph which prevails.

 

[TITLE:] ODESSA               

 

On the still quay in the moonlight: a solitary tent.

 

[TITLE:] THE TENT AT THE END OF ODESSA'S NEW JETTY -- VAKULINCHUK'S LAST

RESTING PLACE

 

In the tent lies the body of Vakulinchuk.

 

An inscription on a sheet of paper: 'On account of a spoonful of borshch.'

 

In his hands is a lighted candle. His body is turned towards the town, which

is visible in the distance through the opening in the tent.

 

First, the cutter passes before the tent,

 

                then a large sailing-ship heading in a different direction floats by and

obscures the view of the town.

 

 

 

 

PART THREE: THE DEAD MAN CRIES FOR FOR VENGEANCE

 

Moonlight plays upon the water.

 

[TITLE:] MIST SWIRLS UP FROM THE NIGHT          

 

In the bay,

 

                ships

 

                wrapped in thick mist.

 

The turgid waves splash gently.

 

Seagulls on a buoy, alarmed, take wing.

 

The turgid waves splash gently.

 

The bay

 

                is full

 

                of ships.

 

Dawn. Beyond the corpse of Vakulinchuk, in whose hands a lighted candle burns, can be seen the distant town.

 

A flag of mourning flutters on top of the tent.

 

Near the tent, absorbed and indifferent, a fisherman fishes from the jetty.

 

A large, ocean-going vessel towers above.

 

[TITLE:] VOICES FROM THE JETTY MAKE THEMSELVES HEARD THROUGH THE MIST            

 

Poorly dressed men and women and children

 

                begin to move towards the tent containing the body of Vakulinchuk.

 

Beyond the corpse of Vakulinchuk, the lighted candle in his hands, the town can be seen in the distance.

 

An old woman enters the tent and straightens the lighted candle in Vakulinchuk's hands.

 

All who approach, approach the tent -- men and women.

 

Insensible to everything, two fishermen fish.

 

The lighted candle

 

                in the hands of the dead Vakulinchuk.

 

The crowd around the tent quickly grows larger. Two noblewomen, wearing expensive white dresses and carrying elegant white umbrellas, peep curiously into the tent.

 

The sails of a nearby ship are put up.

 

[TITLE:] AND TOGETHER WITH THE SUN THE NEWS BREAKS ON THE TOWN             !

 

At first empty, the long, narrow steps leading down to the harbor quickly fill with moving people.

 

[TITLE:] THE BATTLESHIP IN THE ANCHORAGE    

 

The multitude descends

 

                the long, narrow steps.

 

[TITLE:] THE REBELLION                  

 

Along the bridge,

 

                quietly and purposefully,

 

                flows the stream of people.

 

[TITLE:] THE SHORE           

 

Along the harbor

 

                flows the stream of people.

 

[TITLE:] THE MURDERED SAILOR               

 

The crowd around the tent containing the body of Vakulinchuk quickly grows. Men and women regard the murdered man, then pass on.

 

A small boy walks past the corpse of Vakulinchuk and places a coin in the sailor's cap lying on a barrel.

 

In the hands of Vakulinchuk, the candle burns.

 

The sailor's cap on the barrel is filled with coins.

 

Near the tent, a student delivers a fiery speech.

 

Along the jetty

 

                flows the vast stream of people.

 

The multitude descends the long, narrow steps by the bridge.

 

The endless stream of people flows along the jetty.

 

Descending by both the steps which lead from the bridge to the harbor, the stream of people

 

                 surges thickly and excitedly under the arch of the bridge.

 

A vast, solid crowd surrounds

 

                the tent containing the body of Vakulinchuk.

 

A woman turns to the crowd:

 

[TITLE:] 'Let us not forget him!'

 

                 and she points to the corpse of Vakulinchuk.

 

The inscription on a sheet of paper: 'On account of a spoonful of borshch.'

 

Angrily, the woman says:

 

[TITLE:] 'On account of a spoonful of borshch.'

 

A young man in a sailor's sweater agitatedly reads an address to the crowd:

 

[TITLE:] 'People of Odessa! Before us lies the body of the brutally murdered sailor, Grigory Vakulinchuk -- murdered by a senior officer of the squadron battleship, "Prince Tavrichesky." Let us have our revenge on the bloodthirsty vampires! Death to the oppressors! Signed by the crew of the squadron battleship, "Prince Tavrichesky".'

 

The people listen to him avidly.

 

Women standing near the tent weep.

 

An old woman kneels by the corpse of Vakulinchuk and kisses his hand.

 

The body of Vakulinchuk with the lighted candle in his hands.

 

The old woman weeps.

 

An old man in pince-nez looks grievously

 

                at the murdered Vakulinchuk.

 

Two old women kneel by the corpse.

 

A supercilious-looking man smokes unconcernedly, and looks on with a smirk

 

                 when a woman falls to the ground in grief.

 

[TITLE:] A LASTING MONUMENT TO THE FALLEN WARRIORS        !

 

Women begin to sing.

 

[TITLE:] ALL FOR ONE     

 

The whole crowd begins to sing.

 

[TITLE:] ONE       

 

The dead Vakulinchuk with the lighted candle in his hands.

 

[TITLE:]                  FOR ALL             

 

A vast crowd around the tent.

 

Two blind women singing.

 

A woman weeping.

 

The whole crowd

 

                with heads bent in woe.

 

Tears form in the eyes of a dock-worker.

 

A man nervously touches his forage-cap.

 

The dock-worker weeps, covering his face with his hand.

 

The student delivers his speech.

 

[TITLE:] 'Down with the butchers!'

 

The crowd

 

                is agitated.

 

A fist is clenched in hatred.

 

The crowd

 

                listens to the speaker.

 

A clenched fist.

 

The excitement of the crowd grows.

 

One of the women begins to make a speech.

 

Again, a fist is clenched in hatred.

 

The woman turns to the crowd.

 

An old woman shouts in excitement.

 

A fist is raised threateningly.

 

Everybody excitedly waves their hands and shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'Down with the autocrats!'

 

The excitement of the crowd

 

                rises

 

                ever higher

 

                and higher,

 

                and draws near

 

                to its peak.

 

A suspicious-looking man in a straw hat, his hands tucked insolently into his waistcoat, looks on with a disdainful smile.

 

The woman shouts:

 

[TITLE:] 'Mothers and brothers! Let there be no distinctions or enmities among ourselves!'

 

                and she exhorts the crowd.

 

The suspicious-looking man in the straw hat smiles disdainfully.

 

The woman continues her speech.

 

The suspicious-looking man in the straw hat cries out:

 

[TITLE:] 'Down with the Jews!'

 

                and smiles insolently.

 

The men standing near him

 

                sharply

 

                 and angrily,

 

                one          

 

after another,

 

                turn their heads.

 

The reactionary [a member of the Black Hundred, a virulent anti-Jewish society] continues to smile insolently.

 

One of the men advances towards him angrily.

 

The reactionary grows frightened.

 

The man continues to advance towards him.

 

The reactionary pulls his straw hat over his eyes and tries to walk away, but he is stopped.

 

The man looks at him in fury.

 

The reactionary

 

                is surrounded by men.

 

They pull his straw hat over his face and

 

                begin

 

                to attack him.

 

Pathetically, the student delivers his speech.

 

The sea of people

 

                surges in agitation.

 

Pathetically, the student delivers his speech.

 

The women frenziedly wave their arms.

 

Pathetically, the student continues his speech.

 

The women shout in their frenzy.

 

The student appeals to the crowd:

 

[TITLE:] 'Shoulder to shoulder!'

 

The multitude descends the long, narrow steps by the bridge.

 

[TITLE:] THE LAND IS OURS            !

 

Under the arch of the bridge the sea of moving people sways convulsively.

 

[TITLE:] THE FUTURE IS OURS       !

 

Along the bridge the people move.

 

The women in the crowd near the tent containing the body of Vakulinchuk continue to shout in their frenzy.

 

The sea of people surges with excitement.

 

Pathetically, the student continues his speech.

 

The excitement of the crowd

 

                reaches

 

                its peak.

 

The sailors make their appearance

 

                on the decks and by the gun-turret of the battleship,

 

                and begin to listen to the speakers.

 

[TITLE:] THE DELEGATE FROM THE SHORE             

 

A worker speaks to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'We must inflict a decisive blow on the enemy!'

 

He appeals to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'Together with the revolutionary workers throughout all Russia                ',

 

                and he exhorts them passionately.

 

The sailors answer him:

 

[TITLE:] 'We will be victorious!'

 

The worker's speech seizes the imagination of the sailors on the decks and

 

                in the watch-tower.

 

The sailors, taking off their caps,

 

                rapturously

 

                applaud

 

                the delegate.

 

The sailors standing in the watch-tower also take off their caps and wave their arms to the delegate.

 

[TITLE:] TENSELY AND VIGILANTLY, THE SHORE KEEPS ITS EYE ON THE 'POTEMKIN'            

 

The inhabitants of the town, standing on the harbor steps, gaze at the battleship in the distance.

 

On the battleship, the sailors, their heads thrown high,

 

                watch tensely,

 

                as the red flag is raised.

 

The inhabitants of the town joyfully praise the insurgent battleship.

 

The red flag is raised victoriously up the mast of the battleship.

 

 

 

 

PART FOUR: THE ODESSA STEPS

 

[TITLE:] IN THOSE MEMORABLE DAYS THE TOWN LIVED AT ONE WITH THE REBELLIOUS

BATTLESHIP      

 

In the harbor, the townspeople load their sailing-boats with provisions.

 

[TITLE:] A FLEET OF WHITE-SAILED YAWLS RACES THROUGH THE WATER TO THE SIDES OF THE BATTLESHIP        

 

The sails of the boats are put up,

 

                and they fill with wind.

 

The boats push off,

 

                and sail past the town,

 

                and the wharf,

 

                and out into the open sea.

 

The passing boats are seen as a background to a curved colonnade overlooking the water from the height of the town.

 

A demonstration takes place beneath the arch of the bridge.

 

In the distance can be seen the white sails of the boats.

 

On the wharf, an educated young woman, an umbrella in her hand, and a man -- apparently a professor -- look ardently, but with reserve, in the direction of the rebellious battleship.

 

A group of workers (two men and a woman) tumultuously hail the rebellious sailors.

 

The young woman with the umbrella opens it out joyfully and waves her black-gloved hand, and the man with the appearance of a professor takes off his hat.

 

Standing with a young schoolgirl, an elderly woman in pince-nez rapturously waves her hand.

 

A student shouts joyfully.

 

A yacht sails across the sea,

 

                and the fleet of white-sailed yawls.

 

On the mast of the battleship the red flag flutters victoriously.

 

The boats sail towards the battleship.

 

The sailors on board the battleship wave their caps in delight.

 

The boats

 

                sail up,

 

                one after another,

 

                to the sides of the battleship. 

 

Sailors pull the oars of the rowing-boats.

 

The sailors on board the battleship wave their caps in delight.

 

The sailing-boats draw up by the side of the battleship.

 

Sailors from the battleship quickly descend the gangway.

 

Sailing-boats and rowing-boats draw up.

 

The sailing-boats

 

                drop their sails.

 

The sailors on board the battleship wave their caps in delight.

 

Sailing-boats

 

                surround the battleship.

 

The sailors on board the battleship wave their caps in delight.

 

The inhabitants of the town, standing on the harbor steps, look at the battleship in the distance.

 

A woman with a live goose in her hands climbs up the gangway and gives it to the sailors.

 

On the sailing-boats, bread is passed from hand to hand.

 

The inhabitants of the town, standing on the harbor steps, look at the battleship in the distance.

 

The people in the sailing-boats look at the sailors on board the battleship.

 

Cigarettes, a sucking-pig are passed to the sailors,

 

                a crateful of poultry,

 

                geese.

 

On board the battleship, the inhabitants of the town embrace the sailors.

 

Along the gangway are carried a basket of eggs,

 

                another sucking-pig.

 

The inhabitants of the town, standing on the harbor steps,

 

                look into the distance,

 

                and hail the battleship.

 

A lady with a veil and lorgnette

 

                and a lady in an expensive white dress, an umbrella over her arm, also look at the battleship. Past them, a legless invalid drags himself on his hands.

 

The lady in the expensive white dress, an umbrella over her arm, waves elegantly in the direction of the rebellious battleship.

 

From behind the lady with the veil and lorgnette, the legless invalid moves on his hands,

 

                and he looks in the direction of the battleship.

 

The lady with the veil looks through her lorgnette at the ship.

 

The legless invalid joyfully waves his cap with one hand.

 

A woman draped with a shawl stands beside her small son.

 

On the mast of the battleship the red flag flutters victoriously.

 

The woman, draped with a shawl, and her son look joyfully at the battleship.

 

A girl and a boy wave their small hands in delight.

 

The crowd, standing on the harbor steps, tumultuously hails the insurgent battleship.

 

[TITLE:] SUDDENLY         

 

A woman with bobbed hair throws back her head in terror.

 

The crowd on the steps shudders and begins to run down the steps.

 

The legless invalid, trying to save himself, leaps precipitately on his hands down one of the high balustrades flanking the steps.

 

A rank of soldiers draws near to the top of the long, broad steps.

 

The lady with the veil and lorgnette, having fallen, raises herself and runs down the steps.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

Fatally wounded, a man begins to fall.

 

In the instant before his death, the steps appear fleetingly in front of his eyes. He falls

 

                onto the steps.

 

A small boy, wounded, falls nearby.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

The boy clutches his head with his hands.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

Relentless, like a machine, ranks of soldiers with rifles trailed descend the steps.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

Behind the balustrade a group of terrified women hide -- among them the elderly woman in pince-nez.

 

Men leap from the balustrade onto the ground.

 

Behind one of the balustrades, a man and a woman hide.

 

Behind the other balustrade an old man in pince-nez, a small schoolboy and a woman hide. The old man in pince-nez is unexpectedly hit by a bullet.

 

A rank of soldiers fires into the crowd.

 

The man hidden with the woman behind one of the balustrades falls dead.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

A man jumps over the wounded old man in pince-nez. The old man raises himself and looks at him.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

The old man in pince-nez looks from behind the balustrade.

 

The woman draped with a shawl runs down the steps, holding her small son by the hand.

 

The ranks of soldiers aim, and fire into the crowd.

 

The son of the woman draped with a shawl falls onto the steps.

 

Mechanically, the woman draped with a shawl continues to run down the steps.

 

The fallen boy raises himself and shouts.

 

The fleeing mother stops

 

                 and turns.

 

The boy falls back, unconscious.

 

In horror, the mother tears at her hair.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps -- over the fallen boy.

 

Her eyes crazed, the mother goes up the steps.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

                trampling the slaughtered boy.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

The fleeing people

 

                trample the slaughtered boy.

 

Her eyes crazed, the mother goes up the steps.

 

The crowd runs down the steps.

 

Her hands to her head in horror, the mother goes up the steps.

 

The crowd tramples the slaughtered boy.

 

Her hands to her head in horror, the mother goes up the steps.

 

The crowd runs down the steps.

 

Her slaughtered son in her arms, the mother goes up the steps

 

                towards a rank of soldiers.

 

In terror, the crowd runs down the steps.

 

The elderly woman in pince-nez, hidden behind the balustrade, exhorts

 

                the women with her

 

                to advance towards the soldiers, in order to stop the massacre.

 

Her slaughtered son in her arms, the demented mother goes up the steps.

 

In a frenzy, the elderly woman in pince-nez exhorts the women with her.

 

[TITLE:] 'Come! Let us plead with them!'

 

She regards them boldly.

 

In terror, the crowd continues to run down the steps.

 

The elderly woman in pince-nez smiles

 

                encouragingly

 

                at the women with her and at the old men,

 

                all frozen with fear.

 

Relentless, like a machine, the rank of soldiers with rifles trailed descends the steps.

 

Her slaughtered son in her arms, the demented mother goes up the steps.

 

The women are frozen with fear.

 

The elderly woman in pince-nez smiles encouragingly.

 

A young girl,

 

                the old men,

 

                men, an old woman,

 

                and an invalid on crutches

 

                stand up behind her.

 

The rank of soldiers fires into the crowd.

 

In terror, the crowd continues to run down the steps.

 

Her slaughtered son in her arms, the demented mother goes up the steps.

 

Led by the elderly woman in pince-nez, the group of women and old men go up the steps towards the rank of soldiers,

 

                and pleadingly hold out their hands to them.

 

Through the corpses strewn on the steps, her slaughtered son in her arms, the mother continues up the steps.

 

Through the corpses strewn on the steps, relentless, the rank of soldiers with rifles trailed continues to descend the steps.

 

Her slaughtered son in her arms, going up the steps strewn with corpses, the mother shouts to the soldiers:

 

[TITLE:] 'Hear me! Don't shoot!'

 

Inexorably, the rank of soldiers moves on.

 

The shadows of the soldiers fall on the steps.

 

Her slaughtered son in her arms, the mother shouts again to the soldiers:

 

[TITLE:] 'My boy is badly hurt!'

 

She draws close to the rank of soldiers, their rifles aimed

 

                and to the officer, his sabre raised.

 

Led by the elderly woman in pince-nez, the group of women and old men,

 

                pleading,

 

                 go up the steps.

 

The officer lowers his sabre, and a volley is fired.

 

Her slaughtered son in her arms, the mother falls onto the steps.

 

At the bottom of the steps, the people run onto the carriage-way,

 

.. and horsemen charge them.

 

Her slaughtered son held tight to her breast, the mother lies on her back.

 

Her hands are arranged in the form of a cross, and

 

                over them creep the advancing shadows of the soldiers.

 

[TITLE:] THE COSSACKS                

 

The cossacks charge straight at the crowd, and

 

                the people are trampled by the horses' hooves and beaten with the whips of the horsemen.

 

A rank of soldiers descends the steps

 

                and fires into the crowd.

 

The group of women and old men, pressing themselves against the balustrade, go up the steps.

 

The rank of soldiers fires volley after volley into the crowd.

 

The group of women and old men fall onto the steps.

 

The legs of the soldiers move on.

 

A beautiful woman [a young mother] shields a pram containing a child from the fleeing people.

 

Relentless, like a machine, the rank of soldiers descends the steps.

 

The beautiful woman opens her mouth in terror

 

                 and clings to the side of the pram.

 

With her body, she shields the child in the pram from the fleeing people.

 

The rank of soldiers descends the steps

 

                and fires.

 

In terrible pain, the young mother throws back her head.

 

The pram with the child comes to rest at the edge of the steps.

 

The young mother, her mouth open in terror,

 

                clutches her dress with her hands.

 

The fleeing people are trampled by the horses' hooves and beaten with the whips of the cossacks.

 

Blood on the young mother's stomach.

 

The young mother, her mouth open,

 

                begins to fall,

 

                and the pram with the child rolls to the very edge of the steps.

 

The rank of soldiers with rifles trailed

 

                 descends the steps.

 

The young mother, falling onto the steps,

 

                pushes

 

                the pram with the child.

 

A cossack attacks a man with his whip.

 

The fleeing people are trampled by the horses' hooves and beaten with the whips of the cossacks.

 

Fallen, the young mother

 

                jolts

 

                the pram with the child

 

                over the edge of the steps.

 

The elderly woman in pince-nez is frozen with horror.

 

The pram with the child

 

                bounces

 

                down the steps.

 

The young mother lies dead on the steps.

 

On the carriage-way, the cossacks beat the crowd with whips, and,

 

                at the foot of the steps,

 

                a rank of soldiers fires point-blank at the people.

 

The pram with the child bounces over the steps.

 

The elderly woman in pince-nez is frozen with horror.

 

The pram with the child bounces over the steps.

 

A terrified student presses himself into the corner of a building.

 

At the foot of the steps, the rank of soldiers fires volley after volley into the crowd.

 

The pram with the child leaps across the steps.

 

A terrified student presses himself into the corner of a building.

 

Down the steps,

 

                over the corpses,

 

                careers the pram with the child.

 

The rank of soldiers fires into the crowd.

 

The pram with the child careers over the corpses down the steps.

 

The student pressed into the corner of the building shouts in terror.

 

The pram with the child overturns.

 

A cossack brandishes

 

                his sword,

 

                and puts out an eye of the elderly woman in pince-nez.

 

The battleship : the gun-turret looms ominously.

 

[TITLE:] AND THEN THE CANNONS OF THE BATTLESHIP OPEN FIRE IN RETALIATION

AGAINST THE SAVAGERY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF ODESSA     

 

The muzzles of the cannons, pointed menacingly towards the town.

 

[TITLE:] THE BULL'S EYE -- THE ODESSA THEATRE                !

 

The sculpture on the pediment of the theatre.

 

[TITLE:] THE ODESSA THEATRE -- THE TOWN'S MILITARY HEADQUARTERS            

 

The cannons of the battleship open fire

 

                at the cupids

 

                adorning

 

                the cornice of the theatre.

 

A shell bursts

 

                 against the iron gates of the theatre building,

 

                enshrouding everything in smoke.

 

The sculptures: a lion dormant,

 

                a lion with evil face raised,

gh

                a lion up on its paws, snarling.

 

The iron gates of the theatre building

 

                are enshrouded in smoke.

 

The smoke disperses -- to reveal that the theatre building has been destroyed.

 

 

PART FIVE: MEETING THE SQUADRON

 

[TITLE:] ON THE BATTLESHIP, MEETINGS CONTINUE PASSIONATELY UNTIL EVENING          

 

A speaker cries to the sailors:

 

[TITLE:] 'The people of Odessa look to you for their liberation. Disembark now,

and the army will join forces with you.'

 

The speaker

 

                continues. The muzzles of the cannons loom menacingly.

 

The sailors

 

                argue among themselves.

 

One of the sailors says:

 

[TITLE:] 'We cannot disembark. The admiralty squadron has begun to move against

us.'

 

He continues to speak.

 

The sailors wave their arms about excitedly.

 

The sailor exhorts his comrades,

 

                who wave to him

 

                with their caps.

 

The sailor exhorts his comrades.

 

The sailors wave their arms about excitedly.

 

The sailor passionately exhorts his comrades.

 

One of the sailors listening to him is lost in thought.

 

The sailor continues to exhort his comrades,

 

                but the other sailor interrupts him.

 

[TITLE:] WITH ONE HEART THEY DECIDE TO FACE THE SQUADRON            

 

The empty deck.

 

[TITLE:] A NIGHT OF ANXIETY BEGINS     

 

The flag comes down.

 

The moon appears from behind the clouds.

 

Moonlight plays upon the water.

 

On the battleship, the watch looks tensely into the distance.

 

The sea splashes gently.

 

The watch moves along the side of the battleship.

 

The sea splashes gently.

 

A sailor gazes tensely into the distance.

 

The silhouette of the battleship stands out starkly and majestically in the moonlight.

 

The motionless needles

 

                of the pressure-gauges.

 

By the engines -- sleeping sailors.

 

The watch looks tensely into the darkness.

 

A searchlight directed on the water.

 

The watch and the sailor gaze into the darkness.

 

The searchlight directed on the water.

 

By the engines -- sleeping sailors.

 

The motionless needles of the pressure-gauges.

 

[TITLE:] THE SQUADRON CREEPS UP IN THE DARKNESS   

 

Murk over the water.

 

The squadron on the horizon.

 

Murk over the water.

 

Matyushenko, fighting against sleep,

 

                smokes

 

                in one of the cabins.

 

Smoke pours from the funnels of a passing ship.

 

By the engines -- sleeping sailors.

 

The helmsman asleep at the wheel.

 

By the engines -- sleeping sailors.

 

The searchlight directed on the water.

 

In a cabin, a sailor asleep on a divan.

 

Matyushenko, with other sailors, awakens the helmsman.

 

The cabin: the sailor asleep on the divan.

 

Another sailor at the wheel.

 

[TITLE:] THROATS HOARSE FROM CONTINUAL SPEECH BREATHE HARSHLY AND UNEVENLY          

 

The cabin: sailors asleep

 

                on the divan,

 

                in a deck-chair.

 

Matyushenko enters the cabin and looks at the sleeping sailors.

 

The sailor on the divan awakens.

 

Sailors close the shutter over the searchlight.

 

Matyushenko talks with the awakened sailor,

 

                and goes out of the cabin.

 

The sailor turns over onto his other side.

 

Sailors close the shutter over the searchlight.

 

The sailor on the divan sleeps.

 

Sailors run over to a handrail.

 

By the engines -- the sailors roll over uneasily in their sleep.

 

The sailor on the divan awakens again.

 

The helmsman at the wheel.

 

A sailor by the handrail beckons to another.

 

By the engines -- the sailors roll over uneasily in their sleep.

 

The sailor by the handrail

 

                looks through a telescope.

 

The sailors by the handrail gaze tensely into the distance.

 

The motionless needles

 

                of the pressure-gauges.

 

Sailors look through a pair of binoculars

 

                and the telescope.

 

 

The watch looks through the binoculars.

 

The pressure-gauges.

 

Sailors look through the binoculars and the telescope.

 

The watch looks through the binoculars.

 

A sailor in the watch-tower shouts.

 

The sailor turns the telescope.

 

Near the muzzle of a cannon, a sailor gazes into the darkness.

 

The watches look into the distance.

 

The sailor turns the telescope.

 

The squadron is visible on the horizon.

 

The sailor looking through the telescope bends and cries:

 

[TITLE:] 'Squadron on the horizon!'

 

The sailor near the muzzle of the cannon turns quickly towards the cry.

 

The sailor again looks through the telescope.

 

The alarmed figures

 

                of the sailors.

 

Matyushenko rapidly descends the ladder to the cabin.

 

In an instant, the sailor in the deck-chair is awake,

 

                and the sailor on the divan.

 

The one

 

                and the other raise themselves,

 

                stand up,

 

                 and quickly run out.

 

A running sailor can be seen through a grating.

 

The sailors run up to Matyushenko and question him.

 

In the cabin, Matyushenko stops a young sailor.

 

The young sailor looks confusedly at Matyushenko.

 

Matyushenko throws off his jacket.

 

The young sailor tightens the jacket round himself, and Matyushenko takes the midshipman's cap off the young sailor's head.

 

Sailors climbing up holdfasts.

 

Matyushenko puts a sailor's cap on the young sailor's head.

 

The young sailor ascends the ladder from the cabin, followed by Matyushenko.

 

The sailors rush up the holdfasts,

 

                up the deck ladder,

 

                up to a platform by the funnel.

 

The sailors on the platform can see 

 

                the squadron on the horizon.

 

They continue to look at the squadron on the horizon.

 

The sailor looks through the telescope.

 

Sailors looking into the distance,

 

..climbing up the holdfasts,

 

                ascending to the platform by the funnel,

 

                on the platform.

 

Matyushenko blows on his pipe.

 

[TITLE:] ALL HANDS ON DECK      !

 

The bugler

 

                sounds his call.

 

A sailor blows on his pipe.

 

The sailors come running.

 

[TITLE:] ACTION STATIONS           !

 

The bugler

 

                sounds his call.

 

About the deck

 

                the sailors run.

 

Sailors remove the tarpaulins from the cannons.

 

In the gun-turret, a gunner

 

                prepares

 

                for battle.

 

About the deck the sailors run.

 

Matyushenko blows on his pipe.

 

About the deck the sailors run.

 

Sailors run

 

                to the engine-room.

 

The helmsman and Matyushenko speak over the telephone

 

                to the engineer in the engine-room.

 

Matyushenko speaks over the telephone

 

                to the engineer.

 

About the deck the sailors run.

 

Sailors move

 

                the heavy shells

 

                up the lift to the cannons.

 

The sailors remove the tarpaulins from the cannons.

 

The engineer, speaking on the telephone, passes an order to a comrade.

 

The engineer pulls a lever.

 

The telephones ring in the engine-room.

 

Sailors descend the gangway and pull up the handrail.

 

The engineer pulls a lever.

 

The sailors

 

                raise

 

                the gangway.

 

The engineer pulls a lever.

 

The sailors

 

                suspend

 

                the gangway

 

                along the side of the battleship.

 

A tarpaulin is spread over the deck.

 

Sailors take the heavy shells from the lift,

 

                and lay them on the tarpaulin,

 

                one

 

                after another.

 

Matyushenko stands by the helm and shouts into the speaking-tube.

 

[TITLE:] FULL SPEED AHEAD        

 

The engineer listens on the telephone.

 

Behind the helmsman, Matyushenko speaks on the telephone.

 

The sailors

 

                working in the engine-room.

 

Smoke pouring from the funnels.

 

The engineer presses a lever.

 

Faster and faster

 

                the engines run.

 

The battleship carves its way through the sea, dividing the water into tall waves.

 

The calm sea splashes gently against the shore.

 

The battleship carves its way through the sea, dividing the water into tall waves.

 

Ever faster and faster

 

                the engines run.

 

The battleship carves its way through the sea, dividing the water into tall waves.

 

At full speed,

 

                the engines run.

 

Smoke pours from the funnels.

 

Behind it, the battleship leaves a shining wake and clouds of smoke.

 

Matyushenko, speaking on the telephone, receives a message from a sailor approaching at the run, and he gives the order to the helmsman to turn the wheel.

 

The gun-turrets swing menacingly.

 

The gunner is prepared for battle.

 

The muzzles of the cannons are raised menacingly.

 

The gunner looks at his sights.

 

The muzzles of the cannons are raised.

 

The gunner looks at his sights.

 

The prow of the battleship cuts through the water,

 

                raising great waves on all sides.

 

Standing by the helm, Matyushenko looks through a telescope.

 

The squadron is visible on the horizon.

 

Matyushenko speaks to the helmsman.

 

The needle of a pressure-gauge jumps about -- and moves up.

 

The engineer speaks on the telephone.

 

The needle jumps about -- and moves higher.

 

The gunner is prepared for battle.

 

The squadron on the horizon.

 

The engines at full speed.

 

The gunner by his sights.

 

The gunner swings

 

                his cannon.

 

The engines at full speed.

 

The needle of the pressure-gauge jumps about.

 

[TITLE:] MAXIMUM SPEED             !

 

The needle as high as it can go.

 

The engines at maximum speed.

 

Great waves caused by the passage of the battleship.

 

The water bubbles and foams.

 

Smoke pours from the funnels.

 

The helmsman, turning the wheel, listens to Matyushenko.

 

Visible in the distance -- the squadron.

 

[TITLE:] THE 'POTEMKIN' AND DESTROYER NO. 267             

 

Alongside the battleship -- a destroyer.

 

Standing by the helm, Matyushenko looks into the distance.

 

[TITLE:] THE SQUADRON ADVANCES       

 

The squadron draws ever nearer and nearer.

 

Smoke pours from the funnels.

 

Great waves caused by the passage of the battleship.

 

The water bubbles and foams.

 

Matyushenko, standing by the helm, gives a signal.

 

The gun-turret swings menacingly.

 

[TITLE:] THE SQUADRON DRAWS NEAR    !

 

Ever nearer and nearer

 

                draws the squadron.

 

The gunner sights his cannon.

 

The gun-turret swings menacingly.

 

Sailors carrying a shell.

 

The muzzles of the cannons loom menacingly.

 

Smoke pours from the funnels.

 

Behind it, the battleship leaves a shining wake and clouds of smoke.

 

Standing by the helm, Matyushenko looks into the distance.

 

The squadron draws nearer.

 

Matyushenko is plunged in thought.

 

His hand goes to the speaking-tube.

 

[TITLE:] 'Give the signal: "Join us"'

 

He replaces the speaking-tube.

 

A sailor signals with flags,

 

                and another looks through a telescope.

 

[TITLE:] 'Join        '

 

On ropes, the flags go up the mast.

 

On ropes,

 

                the flags

 

                 go up

 

                the mast.

 

The battleship raises great waves

 

                on all sides.

 

The squadron draws ever nearer and nearer.

 

Smoke pours

 

                from the funnels of an approaching ship.

 

The muzzle of a cannon aimed towards the enemy.

 

The helmsman looks through a telescope.

 

The gunners await the signal.

 

[TITLE:] THE ENEMY IS WITHIN RANGE   

 

The helmsman looks through a telescope.

 

The gunners

 

                await the signal.

 

A sailor with a shell in his arms.

 

Sailors with shells in their arms.

 

[TITLE:] ALL FOR ONE     

 

The cannons of the enemy turn slowly,

 

                point towards the Potemkin,

 

                are menacingly

 

                raised.

 

[TITLE:] ONE FOR ALL     

 

On the mast of the battleship the red flag flutters victoriously.

 

Alongside the battleship -- the destroyer.

 

A cannon raised

 

                looms menacingly.

 

Standing by the helm, Matyushenko looks into the distance.

 

The enemy squadron is near.

 

The gunners embrace each other before battle.

 

A cannon is raised,

 

                and looms menacingly.

 

The gunners await the signal.

 

The cannon looms menacingly.

 

Standing by the helm, Matyushenko shouts.

 

The muzzles of all the cannons of the battleship

 

                are directed

 

                menacingly

 

                towards the enemy.

 

[TITLE:] TO FIRE                

 

The gunners tensely await the signal.

 

Matyushenko looks uneasily into the distance.

 

He blows on his pipe.

 

A cannon looms menacingly.

 

[TITLE:] OR NOT                

 

A gunner tensely awaits the signal.

 

The engines running.

 

The imperial eagle on the prow of the battleship.

 

Sailors with shells in their arms, tensely expectant.

 

Shells on the tarpaulin.

 

The gunner motionless.

 

Suddenly, a smile appears on the face of one of the sailors.

 

[TITLE:] 'Brothers!'

 

Joyfully,

 

                the sailors

 

                break out into laughter.

 

The sailors run out onto the prow of the battleship.

 

The sailors are overcome

 

                with joy.

 

On the mast of the battleship the red flag flutters victoriously.

 

The muzzles of the cannons are lowered.

 

The sailors on board the battleship tumultuously wave their caps.

 

In return,

 

                from the sides of the ships of the squadron passing,

 

                the sailors joyfully

 

                wave their caps.

 

[TITLE:] WITHIN THE HEARING OF THE TSARIST ADMIRALS, BROTHERLY CHEERS SOUND

ACROSS THE WATER     

 

From the sides of the ships of the squadron passing,

 

                the sailors

 

                joyfully wave their caps.

 

Without a shot being fired, a ship of the admiralty squadron goes past the rebellious battleship.

 

[TITLE:] AND WITH THE RED FLAG OF FREEDOM PROUDLY FLUTTERING, WITHOUT A SINGLE  SHOT BEING FIRED, THE INSURGENT BATTLESHIP PASSES THROUGH THE RANKS OF THE  SQUADRON        

 

The sailors on the decks of the battleship,

 

                on the mast and in the watch-tower

 

                tumultuously wave their caps in the air.

 

Victoriously, the insurgent battleship passes through the ranks of the

squadron.

 

Joyfully, the sailors on the mast, in the watch-tower,

 

                on the decks

 

                and on the prow of the battleship

 

                wave their caps in the air.

 

Great waves caused by the passage of the battleship.

 

The tall prow of the rebellious battleship moves victoriously onwards.

 

FIN