What is Eisenstein's theory of montage?
Montage, for me, is not simply a sequence of shots; it is the very engine of filmic thought. It is the dialectic of the film form. Through the collision of independent shots, each with its own meaning, a new, synthesized meaning emerges, one far greater than the sum of its parts. Consider the Odessa Steps sequence in *Potemkin* – the rapid juxtaposition of the crowd’s fear, the soldiers' boots, the baby carriage’s descent, creates not just a depiction of terror, but the very sensation of it, a powerful pathos that engulfs the spectator. This is the creative force of montage: conflict yielding synthesis.
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