Overview

Few individuals have made as much of an impact upon a single medium as has Sergei Eisenstein upon cinema. His ground-breaking movies, such as Battleship Potemkin, October and Aleksandr Nevskii make regular appearances upon 'all-time best movie' lists, whilst classic sequences from these movies, such as the baby in the pram on the Odessa steps (Battleship Potemkin), and the battle on the ice (Aleksandr Nevskii), have entered the public consciousness and are referenced constantly by artists and film-makers alike, from Fellini, Hitchcock and Godard, to Martin Scorsese.

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9781861893673

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Reviews

'Mike O'Mahoney is to be congratulated on producing an authoritative and persuasive biography of Sergei Eisenstein ... I can offer no higher praise than to say that, had I ever got round to writing a biography of Eisenstein myself, I hope that it might have been half as good as this one!' - Richard Taylor, Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema '[O'Mahony's] judicious study synthesizes the best of the extensive Eisenstein literature in English into a lucid, if now familiar, portrait ... O'Mahony's readings of the films are alert to telling details and provide context. A good basic bibliography tops off a compelling, accessible volume. Recommended.' - Choice 'Richly contextualising these peaks and troughs, O'Mahony oscillates between detailed illumination of the ever-changing socio-political mores in which Eisenstein produced his work, and close readings of these works to demonstrate the sometimes conflicting, sometimes coinciding pushes and pulls of Eisenstein's evolving artistic style and the political necessities of cultural practice in the Soviet Union. The resultant work is a taut, involving, and eminently readable 219-pages ... a rewarding and economical shot of knowledge.' - Media-Culture Journal

Mike O'Mahoney is to be congratulated on producing an authoritative and persuasive biography of Sergei Eisenstein ... I can offer no higher praise than to say that, had I ever got round to writing a biography of Eisenstein myself, I hope that it might have been half as good as this one! -- Richard Taylor Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema O'Mahony's judicious study synthesizes the best of the extensive Eisenstein literature in English into a lucid, if now familiar, portrait ... O'Mahony's readings of the films are alert to telling details and provide context. A good basic bibliography tops off a compelling, accessible volume. Recommended. Choice Richly contextualising these peaks and troughs, O'Mahony oscillates between detailed illumination of the ever-changing socio-political mores in which Eisenstein produced his work, and close readings of these works to demonstrate the sometimes conflicting, sometimes coinciding pushes and pulls of Eisenstein's evolving artistic style and the political necessities of cultural practice in the Soviet Union. The resultant work is a taut, involving, and eminently readable 219-pages ... a rewarding and economical shot of knowledge. Media-Culture Journal

Author Information

Mike O’Mahony is Professor of History of Art and Visual Culture at the University of Bristol. He is the author of Sport in the USSR (2006), Sergei Eisenstein (2008) and Olympic Visions (2012), all published by Reaktion Books.

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