Feature film
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan Groznyy
Sergei M. Eisenstein · 1944
Synopsis
Moscow, in the sixteenth century. The young Ivan has himself crowned tsar of all the Russias, against the will of the boyars, and marries Anastasia. He campaigns against Kazan, then falls ill: the boyars refuse to swear allegiance to his son, still a child. Once recovered, he raises up men of the common people, such as Alexei Basmanov, and further alienates the nobility, while his aunt Euphrosyne has the tsarina poisoned.
Context
Shot mostly in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, during the war, from a screenplay by its director, the film is photographed by Édouard Tissé and Andrei Moskvin, with Nikolai Cherkasov in the role of Ivan. It was conceived in three parts. The second, completed in 1946, is banned by the Soviet authorities and remains unreleased until September 1958; its colour sequences were shot in Moscow on Agfacolor stock. After this ban, the third part is abandoned.
Who it is for
A Russian-language film, in two parts to be seen one after the other, with a score by Sergei Prokofiev.
Prizes and reception
Stalin Prize for the first part; the second part was released only a decade after its director's death.
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