SERGEI M EISENSTEIN

To begin with, Eisenstein was convinced that one could find fully accomplishedforms
of artisticsynthesis outside the realm of cinema. In thetwo texts dedicatedattheendofthe1920stotheanalogiesbetweenthefutureofsoundcinema
andthepastof Japaneseculture –“BeyondtheShot”(1928)and “AnUnexpected
Juncture”(1929)–forexample,Eisensteinpraisesthe“monismoftheensemble”
of Kabuki theater, which is capable of editing together various expressive means
(scenes, costumes, voices, gestures, music) in order to “stimulate” the audience
withamaximumofprecisionandeffectiveness.
During the months spent in Mexico, the notion of “synthesis” takes on anothermeaning.NowitistheresultofthemontageofdifferentculturaliconographiesthatEisensteinwasexploringinhisdrawings,aswecanseeinthedrawing
entitled Synthèse (Eve, Europe, Jésus, Torero) (1931) (Ill. 2), which weaves together, in
oneimage,aseriesoficonographicmotifsextractedfromheterogeneouscultural
traditions:therapeofEuropa,thebirthofEvefromAdam’srib,Christ’scrucifixion,andthepopularandpagantraditionofthebullfight.
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Ill. 2 – Synthèse (Eve, Europe, Jésus, Torero), 12 May 1931
eisenstein’s media archaeology 43