For those not familiar with Eisenstein - he is considered the father of Soviet montage. If 'montage' is a confusing concept, then just simply think of montage as 'editing' - because that's what it is. Eisenstein was one of the first great filmmakers in the world who dedicated his life to cinema like nobody else at the time. His experiments in editing and theoretical writings about cinema are now applied to every single piece of visual media produced in the world. David Bordwell knows Eisenstein quite well and outlines what Eisenstein was doing with this film in almost every scene. Looking at this film now for someone who doesn't know film history won't mean much, much like not being able to grasp why Citizen Kane is so revered. But both films have paved the way for cinema as we now know it, and techniques which are now commonplace came from these very films. If you'd like to get acquainted with Eisenstein without reading Bordwell's book on him - check this commentary out.