 Eisenstein's experiment was a mixed success; he "was disappointed when "Potemkin" failed to attract masses of viewers", but the film was also released in a number of international venues, where audiences responded positively.In both the Soviet Union and overseas, the film shocked audiences, but not so much for its political statements as for its use of violence, which was considered graphic by the standards of the time.The film's potential to influence political thought through emotional response was noted by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, who called "Potemkin" "a marvelous film without equal in the cinema ... anyone who had no firm political conviction could become a Bolshevik after seeing the film".