Professor David Peimer
Eisenstein: His Life and Works, Including Extracts From Ivan the Terrible and Battleship Potemkin
Summary
David Peimer discusses the life of Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein (1898–1948), focusing on his notable films, particularly Battleship Potemkin (1925), Ivan, the Terrible (1944, 1958), and Alexander Nevsky (1938). Eisenstein’s role as a pioneer in film theory, his exploration of historical stories, and the impact of his work, especially the concept of montage, are highlighted.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a Professor of Literature, Film and Theatre in the UK. He has worked for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, New York University (Global Division) and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing in New York, UK, Berlin, EU Parliament (Brussels), Athens, Budapest, Zululand and more. He has most recently directed Dame Janet Suzman in his own play, Joanna’s Story, at London Jewish Book Week. He has published widely with books including: Armed Response: Plays from South Africa, the digital book, Theatre in the Camps. He is on the board of the Pinter Centre (London), and has been involved with the Mandela Foundation, Vaclav Havel Foundation and directed a range of plays at Mr Havel’s Prague theatre.
Brian De Palma in The Untouchables, the scene with the pram, and Kevin Costner grabs it at the last second, shoots. The shooting of the guy in the eye of Bugsy Siegel. Then there’s Woody Allen, uses a similar scene a couple of times, the step scene basically. And The Godfather, where Pacino and the daughter are walking down the steps, and they get shot by the killer from the bottom. And there’s so many others, I could go on.
Yes. There are certain scenes which Kubrick references them, without doubt.
Yes, wherever you have the idea of montage, it’s almost a cliche, and nobody really talks about it, but it originates with him.