<br /><div class="Section1"> <div class="MsoNoteLevel1CxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">Sergei M. Eisenstein was an extraordinary Russian director famous for films such as <i>Battleship Potemkin</i> and <i>October</i>. These films were patriotic films, consequently it was established that he could recreate a Russian atmosphere in his films. In 1930, he began work on <i>Que Viva Mexico!</i>, a montage of Mexico’s history and prospective future. How would he translate his passion into a patriotic Mexican film? As a foreigner, he had several limitations, but he managed to make this historical masterpiece by incorporating unconventional film styles. His vision captured a unified Mexico and a patriotic Mexican heritage.</div><div class="MsoNoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">Eisenstein never finished his masterpiece due to political reasons. It is possible that no one will see his true completed vision. But what remained convey his purpose- to use montage to expose the relations between the political and personal individual (Robe 18). The film is divided into six episodes, each chronologically representing a history of the people of Mexico.</div><div class="MsoNoteLevel1CxSpMiddle">In the first episode, begins with untouched Mexico lands by European settlers. It is praised because of its narrative montage which has scenes focused on pyramids (Hart 3). The second episode is of a matriarchal society, in which Eisenstein uses visual rhyming; the scene with the image of the necklace is following by a scene of a man in a hammock (3). The third scene, fiesta, displays cultural town life.<span> </span>The fourth episode, Maguey is closest to classical Hollywood conventions. The fifth, Soldadera, was not shot by Eisenstein (3). The sixth, Day of the Dead, leaves the viewer with a healthy, prospective Mexican future.</div><div class="MsoNoteLevel1CxSpLast">His main purpose is exemplified in each episode. The first displays indigenous lifestyle untainted, uninfluenced by the Europeans. <span> </span>Politically, Techuantepec is a matriarchal society. He shows, using the graphic montage to show how it affects members of the community. Eisenstein then uses the next episode to the show the integrated life of European and indigenous life. The fiesta episode shows a religious ceremony dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Robe implies that it may seem like European assimilation, but there a strong possibility that the townspeople may be worshipping pagan idols. Maguey displays political oppression at the local level by killing off the future of Mexico. He tells this story in an ideational montage. Soldadera and Day of the Dead are tied together because they represent a changing Mexican identity. The unmasking of festival participants, some are skeletons which represent the elite Europeans, while some are young mestizos, who Sergei believed where the future of Mexico. Sergei’s vision was the belief of a “unified artistic vision” of Mexico and belief that the future was in hands of Mexico (4). But his true vision would not be collected until the remaining footage was reconstructed by Grigory Alexandrov (3). The world was not allowed to see his vision, because the Hollywood chose capital rather than art (29). Another factor was that Eisenstein fell out with its financial backer, Upton Sinclair, who would not let Eisenstien edit the material after he left for Russia. An abridgement of <i>Que Viva Mexico!</i> was released under Upton Sinclair; titled <i>Thunder Over Mexico</i>, it was only a segment of Eisenstien’s great vision of Mexico.</div></div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;"><br clear="ALL" style="page-break-before: always;" /> </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4507342150998272570-271417422878938771?l=aoutk475.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
