Recollections of Participants of the Events of 1917 as the Documentary Basis for Sergei Eisenstein’s “October”

Abstract

The film “October” was supposed to present a canonical version of events connected to the victory of the Bolsheviks. To a large extent, this meant creating a “documentary illusion.” In parallel with work on the film, meetings of participants of the armed uprising were organized on October 25 at the initiative of Istpart (Institute on the History of the Party). Archival documents indicate that the main goal of those meetings for filmmakers was to find everyday details, while speakers were setting forth their own memories of those days and were even trying to influence the formation of the script. These speeches reflected the struggle (which entered the final stage at that time) against the influence of L. D. Trotsky, in opposition to whom the figure of Lenin was put forward as the most important organizer of the October Revolution. Meeting participants were urged not to exaggerate the role of the Aurora. In addition, one of the meeting participants, K. A. Vasilevskii, sent several letters to Istpart and the film crew, in which he insisted on making changes to the script. This document is essentially a paper-based recollection of the person who directly led one of the units involved in the storming of the Winter Palace and the arrest and subsequent convoy of members of Provisional Government to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Information about the organized meetings with participants of the Revolution about the script was published in the press. This formed greater confidence in the historical credibility of the future film.