Bronenosets Potyomkin (Battleship Potemkin), Sergei M. Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov, 1925The classic Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, a silent movie, is regarded as a yardstick in cinema "engagé", with its theme of the working class rising up against their ruthless and couldn't-care-less oppressors (czarist Russia), and, despite its evident propaganda rationale, as one of the greatest films ever made. For those who haven't seen it yet, don't overlook the (famous) Odessa steps sequence. In brief: a baby's pram rolls uncontrollably down stairs during a riot, Cossack soldiers open fire on the crowd, the people of Odessa scatter and run - and become sitting targets. Although this scene has been replicated (some might prefer the word "quoted") many times throughout movie-making history, it still preserves intact its awe-inspiring quality.