Odessa Steps Sequence from Battleship Potemkin (1925)
The best known sequence of the film is set on the Odessa steps, connecting the waterfront with the central city. A detachment of dismounted Cossacks forms a line at the top of the steps and march towards a crowd of unarmed civilians including women and children. The soldiers halt to fire a volley into the crowd and then continue their impersonal, machine-like advance. Brief sequences show individuals amongst the people fleeing or falling, a baby's pram running down the steps, a woman shot in the face, broken spectacles and the high boots of the soldiers moving in unison.
