SOURCE: "The Evolution of Eisenstein's Old and New," in Cinema Examined, edited by Richard Dyer MacCann and Jack C. Ellis, E. P. Dutton, 1982, pp. 185-201.

In the following essay, originally published in 1974 in Cinema Journal, Kepley examines Eisenstein's reworking of his film Old and New in compliance with the demands of evolving Soviet agricultural policy.

Soviet cinema is often shaped by Communist Party politics rather than audience tastes, and when the dictates of the Party leadership change, the film industry may be left in a difficult position. From Lenin's death in 1924 to Stalin's ultimate triumph in the power struggle that followed, the Soviet Union experienced a period of uncertainty, and Bolshevik policy was subject to radical alterations. Sergei Eisenstein's Old and New is an example of a film caught in the complexities of changing Soviet agricultural policy. [In a footnote, the critic adds: "For those who have not...