Odessa Crash Test (Notes on Film 09)

When Sergej Eisenstein had a baby stroller dash down the Odessa steps as furious finale of his fictive massacre in the revolutionary classic Battleship Potemkin, he created one of the most iconic moments in film. The uncontrolled death ride of a helpless baby—the stroller slips away from the mother who has been shot—was simultaneously an illustration of Eisenstein’s montage principles: as ideal contrast to the mechanical rhythm of the soldiers marching back and forth. Many directors have paid tribute to the scene, for example, Brian De Palma as super slow motion shootout side effect in The Untouchables—which was promptly trumped by Leslie Nielsen & Co.’s heroic slapstick use of it in The Naked Gun 33 1/3.

Now, when Norbert Pfaffenbichler subjects this baby stroller crash down the steps to an Odessa Crash Test, the freeing potential of this fury is first realized untainted by didactic (Eisenstein), dramatic (De Palma) or comic (Nielsen) intentions. His mad stroller ride down the steps is constructed as a sensational stylistic staccato, which seems to casually grotesquely exaggerate the drama and comedy of the situation—the speed of the takes changes just as rapidly as their sizes, formats, and perspectives. Thanks to the wheel-axle camera, the events and images literally rush into one another. The soundtrack switches continually, to twitch between speed rush and slow motion suspense, from thunderous musical melodrama to lurching baby stroller sizzle to breathless silence—which takes the upper hand when the climax arrives that Eisenstein did not dare to show: how the baby is catapulted from the stroller and set soaring in flight, which is appropriately absurdly savored—until the inevitable impact. Odessa Test Crash: a smashing success.

(Christoph Huber)

Translation: Lisa Rosenblatt

Orig. Title
Odessa Crash Test. Notes on Film 09
Year
2014
Country
Austria
Duration
6 min
Category
Avantgarde/Arts
Orig. Language
No Dialogue
Credits
Director
Norbert Pfaffenbichler
Concept & Realization
Norbert Pfaffenbichler
Cinematography
Martin Putz
Additional camera
Dariusz Kowalski, Lotte Schreiber, Renate Bauer
Assistant
Jasmin Ladenhaufen
Title Design
Nik Thoenen
Supported by
Land Oberösterreich, Wien Kultur, Innovative Film Austria
Available Formats
DCP 2K flat (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,85
Sound Format
Dolby 5.1.
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Digital File (prores, h264)
Festivals (Selection)
2014
London - BFI International Film Festival
Montréal - Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
Victoria - Antimatter Underground Film Festival
Wiesbaden - exground on screen
Winterthur - Kurzfilmtage
2015
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des österreichischen Films
New York - New Directors/New Films
Linz - Crossing Europe Film Festival
Seoul - EXis (Experimental Film- & Videofestival)
Badalona - Internacional de Filmets
2016
Chicago Underground Film Festival