Eisenstein in Guanajuato (2015)

In the rousing aftermath of his revolutionary film, Battleship Potemkin, Sergei Eisenstein, a filmmaker of Shakespearean insight and Beethoven-esque talent, finds himself at a paradoxical crossroads of his career. Celebrated globally, yet scorned by Hollywood and castigated by conservative Americans, Eisenstein, in 1931, embarks on a journey to Mexico. Under the patronage of American pro-Communist sympathizers, led by writer Upton Sinclair, Eisenstein sets out to create a private film, a pursuit that would prove pivotal not only for his career but also his personal life. Upon arriving in the vibrant city of Guanajuato, Eisenstein, at the zenith of his artistic prowess, and freshly stung by Hollywood's rejection, is under immense pressure to return to a Stalinist Russia. Accompanied by his guide, Palomino Cañedo, Eisenstein grapples with the profound ties between Eros and Thanatos, between passion and mortality. The maestro, who once revelled in creating their effects in cinema, now finds himself unnervingly entangled in their realities. Eisenstein's Mexican odyssey serves as a significant hinge in his life, bridging the gap between his early triumphs of Strike, Battleship Potemkin, and October, that catapulted him to global fame, and his later, more hesitant works like Alexander Nevsky, Ivan the Terrible and The Boyar's Plot. Eisenstein in Guanajuato paints a vivid portrait of an artistic genius caught in the throes of personal and creative evolution, provoking a deeper understanding of the man behind the lens.

Eisenstein in Guanajuato is a comedy movie featuring Elmer Bäck and directed by Peter Greenaway.

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