172: Ivan the Terrible

Ivan the Terrible Part I/ Ivan the Terrible Part II: The Boyar's Plot

USSR  99m/88m  Dir: Sergei Eisenstien

Original Screenplay

Sergei Eisenstein was commissioned by Stalin's government to make what was intended to be a three-part film about Stalin's hero Ivan the Terrible. It's astounding that he managed to make and release the first part under that regime whilst the country was fighting the Nazis. Much of the filming was completed at night due to issues with electricity supply due to the war but somehow Eisenstein seemed to have no trouble getting hold of vast numbers of extras. 

The first part opens with the coronation of Ivan (Nikolay Cherkasov) and continues to show his marriage to Tsarina Anastasia (Lyudmila Tselikovskaya) and the 1552 siege of Kazan. When returning from Kazan Ivan falls ill and is thought to be dying and there is much scheming in the court to replace him, especially by Ivan's aunt Efrosinia (Serafima Birman). The second part then continues on from here as Efrosinia and the Boyars plot against Ivan who becomes increasingly paranoid.

It's fascinating to me that the Ivan we see here doesn't really come across as terrible. The first part especially is quite a sympathetic portrait of a man desperately trying to hold his country together while just about everyone else is trying to come up with a way of having him removed from power. The second part does see him become more paranoid and start ordering executions but even there he isn't portrayed as evil as such.

The vast majority of the film is set in Ivan's palace which is designed really cleverly- it does feel like a regal setting yet it's so often cramped, with character having to duck significantly to go through all the doorways. This works really well to amplify the feeling that Ivan is trapped and that everyone around him is out to get him. 

The film is stunning visually from the array of magnificent costumes to the battle sequences which still stand up pretty well by today's standards- who needs CGI to create an army when you can just get in tonnes of extras, even when your country is fighting an actual war? The score is also incredible, composed by none other than Sergei Prokofiev, arguably the greatest composer of the 20th century. Apparently Eisenstein said that Prokofiev was able to grasp the mood, rhythm and structure of a scene immediately and then casually had the score ready for the next day.

Towards the end of the second part there's suddenly ten minute scene which is in glorious colour. It was one of the earliest soviet films to use colour and would have been hugely expensive to do. Colour is used superbly well by Eisenstein and it's a shame that this was the only time the director got to play with it. The banquet scene is lit all in red which gives a hellish feel and there's colour symbolism everywhere from the clothes the characters wear to black swans being carried into the feast. 

The first part was a success in that Stalin liked it, awarding Eisenstein the Stalin Prize for his work. It worked as a piece of propaganda with this Tsar Ivan who is supported by the general public working as a representation of Stalin himself. One could argue that it quite slyly highlights the contemporary internal politics of Russia so isn't entirely pro-Stalin. 

The second part was completed in 1946  Stalin was not happy with so it didn't see the light of day until 1958. Eisenstein never got to make the third part for this reason either. Stalin didn't like it because it depicts Ivan's gradual slide into suspicion and paranoia. It seems really ironic that there were many similarities between Ivan and Stalin yet Stalin saw the old Tsar as an idol of Russia, apparently not recognising his paranoia nor the reason he went down in history as 'the terrible'. 

This is my favourtie of Eisenstein's work, a magnificent film which would be remarkable in any circumstances let alone the circumstances he was making it in. It's such a shame that he wasn't able to make the concluding part which would have been fascinating to see this depiction of Ivan the Terrible fall into full craziness and if the colour section is anything to go by push his filmmaking skills even further.