Battleship Potemkin gets better speakers for its centenary
Battleship Potemkin is returning with a Pet Shop Boys score. After a century, the silent classic has gained the electronic pulse required for organised naval disobedience.
The BFI pairs Eisenstein’s restored film with music by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Orchestra and electronics turn the Odessa Steps into cinema’s most consequential nightclub entrance.
About 25,000 people first heard the work in Trafalgar Square in 2004. Revolutionary montage briefly became London’s largest outdoor synth event without anyone demanding a wristband upgrade.
The orchestra joins the uprising
“The sailors wanted bread, dignity and a stronger bass response,” said Sergei Laser Beret, Curator of Politically Charged Keyboards. “The archive suggests they also wanted the lighting turned down.”
The centenary edition will reach cinemas, Blu ray, CD and vinyl. Purists insist a mutiny should only appear on nitrate film while an anxious projectionist holds a bucket.
The film’s editing remains precise and powerful. The new score proves every revolution gains urgency when somebody stands behind a synthesiser looking politely unimpressed.
Audiences can now watch a landmark film with orchestral grandeur and electronic beats. This gives the captain a second chance to order abandon ship at exactly the correct tempo.
The crew request one more remix
The battleship sails again. The captain calls for order. The crew forms a queue at the merch table and asks whether the vinyl comes in red.
Read the real story: The BFI announcement about the centenary release and score.
