Montage Theory

몽타주 이론

A film editing theory developed by Soviet directors Sergei Eisenstein, Lev Kuleshov, and Vsevolod Pudovkin in the 1920s, holding that meaning arises not from individual shots but from their collision and juxtaposition. Eisenstein, grounding his approach in dialectical materialism, argued that 'montage is conflict'; Kuleshov demonstrated through experiment that the same neutral expression could evoke different audience interpretations depending on the shots that followed. The theory was realized in sequences such as the Odessa Steps in Battleship Potemkin, and it elevated editing to cinema's core expressive tool, establishing a distinct film grammar in contrast to Hollywood continuity editing.