Bordwell, D 1993, “Seizing the spectator: film theory in the silent era” in The Cinema of Eisenstein, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., pp. 112-120

Bordwell’s writing gave a clear insight into the theories and ideas that Eisenstein developed, particularly towards montage and editing techniques. He begins with a summary of Eisenstein’s career and some of his contemporaries to provide background information on how cinema was like at the time. Following this, Bordwell introduces Eisenstein’s “Montage of Attractions” – attractions being anything that “jolts” the audience’s senses – identifying this as something that distinguished him from his peers like Kuleshov and Vertov. One of Eisenstein’s chief points was that spectators were creators of meaning just as much as filmmakers were and so every filmmakers goal was to guide spectators mood in their desired direction. For this to happen, the “attraction” and “shock” is necessary. Bordwell writes that  Eisenstein is seen as being a fervent filmmaker as his works often display political aggression and his writings are tangential, erratic, and metaphorical. Even his preference for highly stylised and vigorous acting from performers reflects this fervour.

Personally I found this chapter by Bordwell to be easier to ingest in comparison to Eisenstein’s articles. Bordwell’s straightforward approach to writing divulges Eisenstein’s theories, free of the often confusing analogies and poetics Eisenstein weaves throughout his work, allowing more of his theories to be understood.

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