In his first feature-length film, Eisenstein applies for the first time on the big screen the concept of the ‘montage of attractions’ that he had developed in the theatre. This didactic, consciousness-raising approach is underpinned by the avant-garde aesthetics of a dynamic montage of images. A prime example of this type of editing is the depiction of the crushing of the strike by the exploited workers. In a rapid cross-cut, images of the massacre of the strikers are juxtaposed with shots from a slaughterhouse. Working closely with his cinematographer Eduard Tissé, a master of eccentric perspectives, Eisenstein guides his audience from a purely emotional response to what is shown towards an intellectual understanding of the connections depicted. Under no circumstances should the viewer be distracted from the real objective by empathising with individual fates: the political awakening of the proletarian masses.