American vs. Soviet cinema and the concept of space

The” Kulshov Experiment”, 1920, offers a starting point for a review of American vs. Soviet Cinema: “what matters most in terms of the screen impression is not what each piece represents, but how the pieces are arranged....the essence of cinema, its own vehicle of impression, is montage.” Montage, the division between distinct spaces in the same film is the concept that appears most striking in the difference between the development of American and Soviet cinema. Griffiths, in “Birth of a Nation”, used editing techniques that produce montage that has been described as “streaky bacon”. Parallel cuts to scenes that progressively become smaller, a cross cutting of different spaces that result in a final “coming together”, the birth of the modern day “blockbuster”. In contrast, Soviet cinema, represented by Eisenstien, used editing techniques that intercut, that provide no sense of defined co-ordianated space. The images edited are separate and collide as seen in “Strike”. Where the emphasis is not on movement between space, but a representation of social/political ideas that interject the moment. As in the final scenes where in quick 2-3 sec intervals, the bulls head cut in, providing shock value. A representation of Soviet call to ideology and revolutionary consciousness. American montage contributes to the narrative, Soviet montage considers intellectual ideas not overtly represented, but require the viewer to synthesise the intellectual information presented.