The word montage, in movie terms, has come to mean the compressing of a large amount of real time into a short amount of film time. However, in the early days of the cinema montage was more of a general term for editing, before the likes of Eisenstein made it into a dramatic cinematic effect, where the juxtaposition of images distorted the logic of space and time.

As a result, The Odessa Steps sequence in The Battleship Potemkin is probably the most influential two minutes in the history of the cinema. And the film itself is certainly one of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed, appearing in all six top ten best ever lists compiled by the BFI’s poll of international critics. Many modern directors owe a huge debt to the filmmaking skill of Eisenstein; Brian de Palma certainly paid his respects with the station shoot-out in The Untouchables.

Halliwell called Eisenstein:

‘…one of the cinema giants.  Used the camera more vividly and purposefully than almost anyone else.’