Ivan Groznyi = Ivan the Terrible. Parts 1 and 2

The first two parts of Eisenstein’s intended trilogy on on the unification of Russia under the 16th century Czar. In the trilogy Eisenstein planned to show the inner struggle of the first Czar of Russia and founder of the Russian state, in his effort to consolidate the unity of the realm against its enemies at home - the boyars or feudal noblemen - and neighbouring powers. Ivan the Terrible part I is Eisenstein’s boldest and most successful experiment in stylisation drawing upon other arts - Wagnerian opera, Marinsky ballet and Japanese Kabuki theatre - which he had begun in ‘Alexander Nevsky’. Ivan’s personal life is interwoven with the themes of his drive for empire and his alliance with the merchant class against the aristocracy. Part II, the last film Eisenstein made, is dominated by cloak-and-dagger intrigue. It was completed in 1946 but not released until 1959. It takes up the story of Ivan the Terrible upon his return to Moscow from Alexandrov. The complex story is full of intrigue, high level political in-fighting, family resentment and suspicion, and assassination plot, executions and murder in the cathedral. Two reels of the original were filmed in colour. The banquet scene towards the end of the film was Eisenstein’s first use of colour stock. Part 3 which was to be in colour, was designed but never filmed. Pts. I and II also available separately on VHS. Pt. I also available separately on 16mm.

Credits: Director, writer, Sergei Eisenstein ; photography, Andrei Moskvin, Edouard Tisse ; music, Sergei Prokofiev.
Cast: Nikolai Cherkassov, Ludmila Tselikovskaya, Serafima Birman, Ludmila Tselikovskaya.