Mat (1926)
English: Mother
(first 10 minutes - the rest is on YouTube)
Directed by: Vsevolod Pudovkin
Starring: Vera Baranovskaya, Nikolai Batalov, Aleksandr Chistyakov
Length: 90 min
Genre: Drama / Propaganda
Based On: The novel "Mat" by Maxim Gorky (written in 1907)
A film about the 1905 revolution against Czarist rule. Niovna (Vera Baranovskaya) mourns over her husband when he is killed during a worker's strike. Her son, Pavel (Nikolai Batalov) has been involved with the revolutionaries, and the police come and investigate. They find nothing, but they are going to arrest him and, most likely, execute him. Niovna, trying to save her son's life, gives the officers what they want, hidden pamphlets and weapons. They take her son to prison anyway.
She marches along with the revolutionaries as they assault the prison to free their men. The guards open fire, but they continue on. Many of the prisoners are able to escape, but just as mother and son are reunited, the son is shot dead. The mother picks up the flag and stands, holding it in the air. The guards, now on horses as they chase down the fleeing revolters, cut the mother down as she stood with the flag.
Another propaganda film from Russia that is meant to make the masses hate the Czarist rule and be proud of those who brought revolution to their country. As a film, it was decent. Many critics put on the same level as Eisenstein, but I wouldn't go that far. It did have that trademark Russian montage sequence during the prison break scene, but other than that, I'd say Eisenstein was a superior filmmaker. During the downtime of the film, Eisenstein had a way of keeping me interested. During the downtimes of this film, I was pretty bored with it.
Entertainment Rating: 5/10
Historical Rating: 6/10