Abuse of Power
Abuse of power is one of the main themes in this film. The mutiny gains momentum so quickly because the commanding officers have abused the sailors to such a degree that the men can no longer stand to be beaten down this way. They are served rotten meat with maggots crawling on it and when it's inspected the ship's doctor lies and tells them that the meat is fine. This treatment leads to the revolt aboard the ship. Eisenstein sees this kind of abuse as endemic to the very nature of highly codified authority structures. The heroes of this film value taking care of one another in order to work towards a common goal, rather than beating people down in order to make them slaves to power.
Martyrdom
Vakulinchuk is the first man to be killed in the revolt on the Potemkin after being the first to speak out against the commanding officers who abuse his fellow shipmates. Vakulinchuk's body is brought ashore to Odessa where a sign is laid upon him saying that he was killed for a bowl of borscht. The sailor becomes a martyr for the cause of all of the people against Tsarism because he was willing to stand up for those who wouldn't and/or couldn't stand up for themselves. His death becomes a symbol for others to fight for their lives and the lives of future generations so that they might live free. The film imbues Vakulinchuk with a sense of nobility, even deifying him to some extent. Though the film certainly holds basic cooperation and comradery as high aspirations, it is not immune to the appeal of personal honor gained through self-sacrifice and a glorious death.
Repetition of History
Battleship Potemkin is about the Russian Revolution of 1905. Before the revolution, Tsarism had oppressed the people and denied them political rights. People were denied the vote based on ethnicity, working wages were not enough for people to survive on, and individuals weren't free to sell their land. These were just a few of the issues that were at the root of the revolution. Almost all of these factors repeated themselves in the lead-up to the (successful) revolution of 1917. This is how Eisenstein reconciles the failure of the 1905 Revolution with the uplifting nature of this film; this battle is linked with the success of 1917, figuratively, though not literally. We see what happened aboard the Potemkin, and this one event symbolizes the fight that the people were engaging in so that they could live a life that is free of oppression. They fight for a system that doesn't beat them down further for the work they do, but instead provides the opportunity to live in freedom.
Collective Action
While individuals like Vakulinchuk play a significant part in driving the action, most of the important events of the film are caused by groups working together after making coordinated decisions. The sailors have many conversations among themselves before initiating the mutiny, the people of Odessa have much public debate before deciding how to take part in the revolution, the sailors again democratically decide to move against the squadron, and the crews of the other ships defy their commanders without any apparent prodding from individual leaders. In this way, the film is trying to promote teamwork and cooperation as noble attributes, attributes which will be necessary for the Soviet Union to thrive in years following this film.
The Professional Class's Role in Oppression
The ship’s senior officers hold the most power and enjoy the most rewards, but their control of the crew would be impossible without the aid of a group of less powerful but significant people. The petty officers and the guards (before they turn on the commander) enforce the officers’ preferred power structure through discipline, watchfulness, and sometimes brutality. Skilled individuals such as Doctor Smirnov and the priest provide an authority and a legitimacy to the officers’ positions. Smirnov falsely claims the officers’ food decisions are medically sound (he even receives a nod of approval from an officer, a sign of their unspoken compact) and the priest offers a supposedly divine vote of confidence in the officers’ authority. This is all meant to represent the ways in which less-powerful but still significant individuals help prop up oppressive regimes in any society.
Lack of Mercy
On the Odessa steps, a woman takes her son, who has been trampled after soldiers begin to fire on the people, to plead with the soldiers for mercy. Instead of being greeted with hospitality the soldiers open fire on the woman who holds her son in her arms. Both of them are killed where they stand. The same goes for the women who try to negotiate with the soldiers for a ceasefire. Notably, the sailors also have no mercy to show for the officers in their mutiny; an unarmed Smirnov is thrown from the ship to his death and Vakulinchuk throws the unarmed priest down the stairs. The film does not necessarily see an equivalence between these two forces, but it does hold the view that there can be no mercy in these conflicts.
Brotherhood
In Eisenstein’s view, the only kind of society that can be just is one where all people stand on equal footing. He emphasizes the cooperative nature of planning and action for both the sailors and the people of Odessa. But perhaps more importantly, he emphasizes the affection between the sailors as an integral part of their success. When the sleeping sailor is beaten, others comfort him. When they reject the borscht, they provide food for each other from the storeroom. When they work, they talk and bond with each other. And finally, when they are heading toward the squadron and believe they may be about to fight to the death, they hug and speak warmly to each other. These men love each other, and Eisenstein wants to impart this as an important value to the audience.
