Ten Days That Shook the World

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Ten Days That Shook the World ★★★½ October; Oktyabr 1927

Silent masterpiece based on American author John Reed's book of the same name. Eisenstein, commissioned by the Soviet government, spared no expense to chronicle the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 (in a flattering Communist light, of course). He was later forced to cut his portrayal of Leon Trotsky, who was then an enemy of the state. Includes rare footage of the Czar's Winter Palace in Leningrad. Haunting score, combined with some of Eisenstein's most striking work. See Warren Beatty's “Reds” for a fictional look at Reed and the Russian Revolution. 104m/B VHS, DVD . RU Nikandrov, N. Popov, Boris Livanov; D: Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Alexandrov; W: Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Alexandrov; C: Vladimir Popov, Eduard Tisse; M: Edmund Meisel.