In the 19th century for over 50 years my people fought and died against the Russian invasion. Entire lives were spent in war. Hundreds of villages destroyed, environment severely damaged, the population of my ethnicity alone was reduced in half. Doubtless, my Dagestani and Nakh brethren took as many, if not more losses. My Circassian brethren had it worst, as Russia committed a genocide against them, practically cleansing the North-Western Caucasus for their own colonization. Many Abkhazians fell under this too. In 1917 my people united again to break away from the control of Russia. And again Russians came with violence, but this time carrying a different flag. This time it was the Bolsheviks. Flags change, but the methods are the same. The essence is the same. A nation built on murder, a horde fed with blood. And while my people bravely sacrificed their lives on the battlefield in the name of freedom, this Soviet lackey, this fan of D.W. Griffith, Eisenstein, was making propaganda movies for his overlords. A man who knows nothing of freedom. Who spent his life obediently cowering in fear. This man was tasked with making a movie about revolution. A triumph of freedom over oppression. Is it a surprise this movie is dead inside? Oh how many praises I've heard about this film, having grown up in Russia. Then, as I learned English and became interested in cinema, I started hearing the same from foreigners. But upon seeing it myself, it turns out this is the cinematic equivalent of an agitposter. The entire story could be conveyed with a single sentence: "communists good, capitalists bad". Rule 1 of storytelling: "love your characters". If you don't love them, this is what you get. Cartoony caricatures. And while this movie is regarded as innovative for its filmmaking techniques, those techniques don't matter if the story isn't good. Because since then there have been thousands of movies that appropriated the techniques, making Battleship Potemkin obsolete in the process. In fact, forget about techniques. They don't determine the artistic value of a work. I've seen movies older than this and simpler than this that were infinitely better, simply because they came from a genuine inspiration. This movie has no soul, as is any propaganda movie. Propaganda is the antithesis of art. It is devoid of divine essence. It is stillborn. EDIT: "Revolution is the only lawful, equal, effectual war. It was in Russia that this war was declared and begun." What a great way to shit on all the defensive wars of independence and simultaneously frame Russia (one of history's biggest aggressor) as a pioneer in the liberation movement.