Hitchcock, at the end of the film, presents the viewer with a train cabin mise-en scene where the male protagonist lifts the female protagonist onto the bunk bed.
Nicholas Haeffner, in his book entitled, Alfred Hitchcock states, “…intellectual montage is used in Hitchcock’s films to plant an image in the mind of the audience which isn’t necessarily on screen” (37) Applying Haeffner’s analysis to North by Northwest, perfectly showcases the use of Eisenstein’s theory of intellectual montage. Alfred Hitchcock’s films North By Northwest (1959) and Psycho (1960), juxtaposes specific images in efforts to create the third meaning Eisenstein’s theory particularized.
It is this attractive valuation that still acts as motive for filmmakers to create their own intellectual montage post Eisenstein.ĭirectors attempt to construct avenues of meaning within their films through the same intellectual montage style that Eisenstein theorized and engaged with. Creating an effective intellectual montage allows viewers to have an emotional reaction, something that allows a films interpretable meaning(s) to resonate. It is clear, through Eisenstein, that intellectual montage has the ability to generate emotion, something that congruently, encourages the development of meaning. Eisenstein details, in his work entitled Film Form, “…Emotional principal is universally human.” (82).The assessment of intellectual montage by Eisenstein appears to show the relevant relation between emotion and montage. The captivation that an intellectual form of montage carries, forces audiences to interpret cinema in new and exhilarating ways. When looking at both, Strike (1925) and Battleship Potemkin, (1925) the captivating ability of the intellectual montage becomes exceedingly apparent. Eisenstein, in Battleship Potemkin, directs a very similar type of intellectual montage, one that, again, showcases the potential strength of the intellectual montage. The metaphorical meaning Eisenstein created through the combination of the two shots shows something conceptual, a concept that connects the slaughter of humans to the slaughter of cattle. To create his metaphorical meaning, Eisenstein cuts away from the violent mise-en-scene of civilian murder and immediately decides to show a cow being slaughtered, imagery which displays equal brutality, but assertively, generates an especially evocative thought. The shot, on its own, presents an overwhelmingly intense image but it becomes clear that Eisenstein is not satisfied with the singular meaning. In Strike, Eisenstein shows the viewer an excessively aggressive military attacking/killing its own civilians. The images presented in Eisenstein’s films thoroughly show how commanding an intellectual montage can be. The third metaphorical meaning acts as a device that allows the audience to arrive at new conclusions, conclusions that perhaps would not be considered without the intellectual montage.Īs a director, Eisenstein utilized the intellectual montage to create metaphorical meanings within his own films like Strike and Battleship Potemkin. By linking one meaningful shot with another meaningful shot, a resulting third meaning is ultimately conceived metaphorically. An intellectual montage, worked through similar association, takes the concept of juxtaposition and pushes it to create thought provoking metaphors for the viewers to react to. A montage, as described by author Aristides Gazetas, is “The creation of a sense or meaning not proper to the images themselves but derived exclusively from their juxtaposition.” (120) Gazetas quote explains a process of editing that allows viewers to feel some sort of interpretational sensation. Eisenstein’s intellectual montage has helped shape resonant meaning within Hollywood’s most beloved and highly rated films.īefore discussing how the intellectual montage has captivated Hollywood, it is first necessary to detail what a montage actually is.
The most prevalent, noticeable, and suggestive of Eisenstein’s methods, one that many Hollywood filmmakers have resorted to using, is that of the intellectual montage. The techniques that Eisenstein created have influenced many filmmakers in their endeavor to produce significant concepts, emotions, and, above all else, art. Sergei Eisenstein managed to take the unexploited potential within the film medium and through various theorizing, create specific montage techniques that truly showcased the power of movies. The Relevance of Intellectual Montage: Post Eisenstein
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