Montage Eisenstein

This is one of the most important studies of Eisenstein to have appeared in any language. Acclaimed as the 'greatest filmmaker of all time,' Eisenstein is a figure of mythic dimension. The recent discovery and publication (in Russian) of thousands of pages of his theoretical writings have led to the realization that he was also one of the prolific and most consistent theoreticians of cinema.

Jacques Aumont, a leading French film scholar and film theoretician, presents an original and nuanced analysis of the man Eisenstein and his theoretical formulations. Aumont interrogates the writings and films for an understanding of the aesthetic, social, and psychological assumptions underlying the concept and practice of montage. Aumont's systematic reading of Eisenstein's 'oeuvre,' the detailed confrontation of his theories and films, shows that Eisenstein's theoretical system remains one of the few consistent aesthetics of film.