Eisenstein's last film, a historical epic in two parts, is a visual
banquet of sublime decadence and exaggerated beauty. Eisenstein's
roots in the silent film are apparent, but his earlier resort to rapid
montage has been replaced by a Sternbergian precision of decor and
lighting. The performances are stylised into vivid caricature, and
the film unfolds as a series of flamboyant tableaux, against which the
actors move like figures in an oppressive, paranoid landscape,
constructed out of light and shade. The quality of the black and white
cinematography is exceptional, until the film bursts into a climactic
sequence in rich Agfacolor. Extraordinary.
