Sergei Eisenstein

Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein

1898 (Riga, Latvia) – 1948 (Moscow)

Eisenstein was one of the great cinematic pioneers; his ideas, as well as his films, continue to influence. He studied briefly with Kuleshov, and worked for Meyerhold as set-designer. Luria and Vygotsky were both friends (Vygotsky for life) and influences. Widely travelled, he met Brecht, Lang, Murnau and Grosz: Stein, Einstein, Marinetti, Gance and Cocteau: and in America, his hero Griffith, Disney, whom he also admired, and his new friend Chaplin. Sternberg finished his abandoned Hollywood film. He collaborated with Richter, Tretyakov and (most notably) Prokoviev, held long discussions with Joyce, and had a talent for misunderstandings with Malevich.

Sergei Eisenstein knew…