105 Years Ago, The October Revolution: “Ten Days that Shook the World” — A Film by Sergei M. Eisenstein (1928)
We bring to the attention of our readers Sergei Eisenstein‘s masterpiece:
“Ten Days that Shook the World” (1928) (1’43”)
In documentary style, events in Petrograd are re-enacted from the end of the monarchy in February of 1917 to the end of the provisional government and the decrees of peace and of land in November of that year.
Lenin returns in April.
In July, counter-revolutionaries put down a spontaneous revolt, and Lenin’s arrest is ordered. By late October, the Bolsheviks are ready to strike: ten days will shake the world.
While the Mensheviks vacillate, an advance guard infiltrates the palace. Antonov-Ovseyenko leads the attack and declares the proclamation dissolving the provisional government.
A Film by Sergei M. Eisenstein
Directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, Sergei M. Eisenstein
Writing Credits: Sergei M. Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov, Boris Agapow (intertitles), John Reed (book)
Music by Edmund Meisel, Dmitri Shostakovich
Cinematography by Eduard Tisse
Cast:
Nikolay Popov as Kerenskiy Vasili
Nikandrov as V.I. Lenin
Layaschenko as Konovalov
Chibisov as Skobolev Boris
Livanov as Terestsenko
Mikholyev as Kishkin Nikolai
Podvoisky as Bolshevik
Smelsky as Verderevsky
Eduard Tisse as German Soldier