| The Battleship Potemkin (Russian: Броненосец «Потёмкин») (1925, Russia) Episode I "Men and Maggots" (Люди и черви) "In June of 1905, the armored battle ship Potemkin is near Odessa on the Black Sea returning after Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese war. We see many sailors asleep in their gently swaying hammocks. A petty officer walks checking the dormitory. A young sailor sleeps with a shoulder and arm hanging outside his hammock. This inconveniences the movements of the officer, and he reacts by whipping the young man. A few of the other sailors wake up and observe this act. In the morning, the ship's cook has hung large pieces of beef just outside the kitchen. We see ordinary sailors talking to each other, pointing to the meat, and calling others to look. An officer on a railing higher up notices the unusual gathering, and the sailors convey to him that the meat is disgusting. The officer eventually calls the ship's doctor, who goes down to get a close look at the meat. The ship's doctor, whose demeanor is that of a servile sycophant, after looking carefully through his pince-nez, says the meat is not rotten, as it has no worms but only maggots, and those can be washed out with brine. We see preparations to serve a meal on table tops that are swinging because they hang from ropes in the ceiling. Large steel bowls are put on the tables and soup is served as the only food. Some of the sailors do not eat the soup. Later, we see in the kitchen the washing up of dishes ... |
