SERGEI M. EISENSTEIN - Biography

Introduction

SERGEI M. EISENSTEIN, whose art sprang from the vortex of the Russian Revolution, is already assured a place among the few great pioneers of cinematography. He was one of the adventurers striving to mould a mechanical means of entertainment—the moving picture

—

into a dynamic form expressive of a new society in our era of unprecedented scientific investigation and social conflict.

In Eisenstein, the genius of an artist and the fervour of an inspired scholar were united; and his six completed films, though they represent

but a fraction of his creative activity, reveal him as one of the most

important artists of the 20th century.

As a film director, Eisenstein's contribution to the development of

cinema is as distinctive as that of such directors as David Wark Griffith,

Charles Chaplin, Robert Flaherty or Rene Clair. But Eisenstein was

not only a film director. He was a scientist searching for the roots of artistic expression. This led him to the development ofa body of theory relating to the creative process and film aesthetics.

However, since a great part of his research and theoretical work is still unpublished, it is difficult to set Sergei Eisenstein accurately in the

perspective of the short history of his chosen medium. When all his

unpublished work is assembled it is possible that posterity will rank

Eisenstein the scientist and philosopher as high as or even higher than

Eisenstein the film director. Indeed, he may be generally recognized as a universal genius.

Eisenstein the man was no less remarkable than his work. He

appeared to some as a cynical egotist bending everything and everyone.to his own will; others declared with equal conviction that he was the victim of insincere and merciless men. To some people he appeared as the embodiment of the scientific materialist of a communist society; while others saw him as the embodiment of the individualist whose way of thinking was saturated with mysticism and symbolism. He impressed many people who knew him as the most intelligent man

they ever encountered.

This biography is a personal portrait of Eisenstein. It relates the man to his work and attempts to answer the many questions asked about him. The basic material used in this book was given me by Eisenstein himself between 1932 and 1935. He dictated some of the material to me, particularly that relating to America and Mexico. Other material concerning his ideas and his life I noted down at his request, and a great

residue remained imprinted on my memory.

When I began to write this biography, a few people said that the

greatest service I could render to the art of film, and to Eisenstein,

would be to record his work as an artist and theoretician. These people

feared that the stature of Eisenstein and the film medium would be

lessened if the more difficult and complex aspects of his life were

included. They thought that many details of his life should not be fully

revealed at this time.

However, I felt that such an approach would do Eisenstein an

injustice for it would serve to perpetuate the legend of a confusing

personality whose life has been surrounded by exaggerated stories and

innuendo. Because I had a deep respect for Eisenstein as a person, I decided that I would not evade the more difficult and complex aspects

of his character.

I have, therefore, attempted to explain his personal conflicts as he

explained them to me. If at times the personal aspects are detailed to a point where some might call it indiscretion, my answer is that the

understanding of a great artist as a human being is more important than

the creation of a formal record of his achievement. It is for this reason

that I have omitted only those things which might injure people who

are still living, or those tilings of such an entirely personal exchange of

thought and feeling that they would have no meaning except to those

people intimately involved.

Other biographers may interpret Eisenstein differently from myself.

They may have access to some material which is not yet available and

they may stress other aspects of his life and work. But, if Eisenstein and

his work are to be fully understood, it would seem that a personal

portrait, such as I have presented, has its place.

The psychoanalyst, Eduard Hitschman, recently said 'To under-

stand [character] by tracing it back to inborn instincts and their trans- formation by the ego, and the influence of parents and early events in

life, is legitimate and scientific characterology which is the most

important part of biography.'

It is my hope that in the future there will be other studies of Eisenstein

so that ultimately a just estimate can be reached of one of the most brilliant and profoundly interesting figures of the first half of our century—a man spanning two social and political systems; an artist rushing forward to the future; a genius whose aim was to make him-self a worthy member of a new society and serve generations of artists as yet unborn.

MARIE SETON