Eisenstein's Influence in "Another Brick in the Wall"

After watching the music video for Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” it occurred to me that it bears some striking similarities to the work of Eisenstein (again, I am thinking explicitly of The Battleship Potemkin), both stylistically, as well as, in what I believe to be the intended effect of their shared stylistic elements. In both the music video and the film there is a clear hero with whom it is apparent that the audience should sympathize, as well as, an obvious villain for whom they should feel contempt. Furthermore, it is apparent that the film and the music video are not only intended to serve as revolutionary propaganda, but that they do so in a manner which is so overt that it boarders on the satirical. In terms of editing, the video for “Another Brick in the Wall,” borrows heavily from Eisenstein’s theory of montage. The combination of conflicting imagery that was prized by Eisentein can be seen in the alternating high and low angle shots of the teacher and the student. The Battleship Potemkin’s “Odessa Steps” sequence uses this same technique in order to make implications about power wielded by the soldiers in relation to the clearly defenseless townspeople. Additionally, the soldiers’ unvarying march in Battleship Potemkin closely resembles that of the students in “Another Brick in the Wall;” however, there is a slight, yet very telling difference between these two images. In Battleship Potemkin, the uniform shots of the soldiers are juxtaposed with those of the townspeople fleeing in utter chaos, where as in “Another Brick in the Wall,” the homogenized students are seen crosscut with images of their cruel and fascistic professor who is himself in the midst of some sort of crazed power trip. The resulting effect of this subtle disparity is the implication that this sort of unquestioned adherence to any one leader or ideology is completely idiotic. Regardless of how Eisenstein may or may not have felt with regard to this sort of fanaticism, he could not make such an overt statement given the context of working within Soviet Russia.