Summary
The sailors meet on the deck, vigorously arguing with each other about how to proceed. Matyushenko advocates landing the ship to join the rebel army. Another sailor says this is impossible because a Tsarist squadron of ships is heading their way and they will not be able to get through. However, the sailors ultimately decide to face the squadron head-on and try to get through. Night falls, and the ship is quiet. Some sailors keep watch uneasily, while others wait at their stations for battle. Everyone is tired, some are sleeping. Matyushenko wakes one sleeping sailor, who seems apologetic, but Matyushenko lets him go back to sleep.
At daytime, the enemy squadron is spotted and the crew is roused. Everyone rushes to battle stations as whistles and trumpets are blown. Matyushenko calls a man in the engine room and instructs him to increase the speed. Others wheel out ammunition to be loaded into cannons. We see the machinery of the engine working at great speed and smoke coming from the ship’s chimneys. We continue to cut back and forth between the engine and the ship moving in a rhythmic fashion, occasionally switching to other images like the turrets being turned into position or Matyushenko at the helm. The ship goes to top speed; now the machinery and the editing of the film are all moving faster than before.
The Potemkin gets closer and closer to the enemy squadron, everything more and more frantic. The sailors put up semaphore flags calling for the sailors on the other ships to join the rebellion. The Potemkin prepares to fire and the main turret turns toward the camera and then up, one of the barrels filling up the shot. Title cards read “one against all” and we cut to the red flag. Several sailors shake hands and hug as they prepare to fight. However, just as they are about to fire, sailors from the other ships cry out “Brothers!” and all the cannons are lowered.
The sailors of all ships rush to deck to wave at each other, the Tsarist ships’ crews having apparently defied their orders. A title card reads “Above the heads of the tsar’s admirals thundered a brotherly hurrah.” The Potemkin passes through the squadron unscathed as all the sailors continue to cheer and celebrate. One final shot passes underneath the bow of the ship before we cut to black.
Analysis
This sequence opens with another moment of democratic process, this time amongst the sailors. Though Matyushenko is in a kind of commanding position, there is no longer any central leadership for the ship's crew. The crew has, at least from a practical standpoint, moved on from the loss of Vakulinchuk’s leadership and become a fully cooperative unit. Though there is some argument and tension, we get the sense that the comradery and mutual affection between the sailors is very strong. This is reinforced in following scenes, when the sailors hug each other during the approach toward the squadron, and also the night before that run when they socialize with each other. There is one moment that night of particular note. When Matyushenko is checking around the ship he finds a sailor sleeping who then wakes up. Matyushenko gives him a word of encouragement and allows him to go back to sleep. This is a subtle call back to the beginning of the film when the officer beat the sleeping sailor for no reason. Matyushenko’s tender and compassionate leadership is a direct contrast to the cruel and oppressive style of the Tsarists. Eisenstein wants to reinforce the idea that life under communism will be a kinder and gentler life than what came before.
This squadron approach scene is built around a similar type of rhythmic montage structure as the Odessa Steps scene, but the Potemkin’s approach towards the squadron is far less chaotic. Eisenstein repeats the same shots from the same angles over and over again, with each round of shots being shorter than the last. The scene goes on for a long time, the tension mounting higher and higher. Eisenstein is priming the audience for a violent climax in the same way he did for the Odessa steps scene. But this time it’s a ruse. The story reverses course at the last moment, battle is avoided, and the sailors of all the ships unite in brotherhood. Eisenstein replaces the violent climax we expected with the cathartic expression of solidarity between sailors. In spite of all the fighting that has preceded this moment in the film, Eisenstein seems to view the winning of hearts and minds as the more significant victory than any military victory. It is the ultimate practical expression of communist politics: successfully radicalizing the masses removes the need to fight at all. One of the last images we see is the red flag, despite not seeing it in any of the wide shots of the Potemkin. In this way, the flag takes on a metaphysical quality. The flag only appears at moments of profound unity and triumph for believers in the communist cause. Its presence in a scene is likely meant more for the audience’s benefit than as part of the reality being depicted in the film, as its color already sets it apart from everything else in the film. It exists separate from the film’s normal rules of time and space. Eisenstein wants the ending to transcend the historical circumstances of 1905 and to form a profound connection between the past, present, and future of Russian communism.
