Strike (1925)

Directed by Sergei Eisenstein; script by Sergei Eisenstein and Valerian Pletnyov; camera by Eduard Tisse; movie poster by Anton Lavinsky.

This was the first film directed by Sergei Eisenstein. It was shot in 1924 and starred the actors of the Proletcult Theatre.

A worker is falsely accused of stealing tools and commits suicide. The other workers leave the factory in protest and hold a meeting in the forest. The factory owners refuse to satisfy the demands of the workers, who vote to continue their strike. The industrial action continues even when the leaders are arrested. The workers take to the streets, where they are beaten and killed by the police.

Sergei Eisenstein closely studied the history of the strike movement in Russia prior to shooting the film. He sought a single idea and a single construction of the film, creating an artistic whole combining chronological frames with metaphorical montages.