Soviet Montage- Narrative| Characteristics | Style (ADDED)

 V. I. Podovkin was also a part of the formalist tradition in film history. He too like Sergei Einsenstein believed that editing was the foundation of film art and they set out to shatter the illusionistic storytelling and seamless continuity cultivated by Classical Hollywood. The Soviet filmmaker wished to harness the power of cinema as a tool of education and propaganda and he therefore wished to go much further than simply entertaining audiences with spectacle and historical romance.
 

This post is to highlight Podovkin's Soviet Montage approaches.

This Soviet filmmaker had five editing techniques which are contrast, parallelism, symbolism, simultaneity and leit-motif or re-iteration of theme.



Contrast
- This technique applies to extreme situation to emphasis on the drastic condition of a certain plot. For example to emphasize on a poor family by contrasting it against another rich family to emphasis on the poor family's living condition.


Parallelism
- This technique is used to show two or more different events by linking them with a common element, for example two people who are from different background or difficulties somehow cross path with each other.


Symbolism
- This technique requires alot of intercutting, you move from your main scene to something which creates a symbolic connection for the audience.


 Simultaneity
-cutting between two simultaneous events as a way of driving up the suspense. This is done in Hollywood film nowadays as it increases the suspense and gets the audience anxious and curious.


Leit motif
- This ‘reiteration of theme’ involves repeating a shot or sequence at key moments as a sort of code. This is done to cue the audience of what is going to come next. Audience find a pattern of repetition and thus upon seeing the shot automatically knows what to expect next.


Some of Podovkin's works- 


        -Hunger...Hunger..Hunger (documentary) (1921)
        -Mother (1926)
        -Mechanics of the Brain (documentary (1926)
        -The End of St. Petersburg (1927)
        -Mother and Sons (1938)

 

Mother (1926)

 

 

Chess Fever  (1925)