Ivan Groznyy I (1944)

Director:

Sergei M. Eisenstein

Writer:

Sergei M. Eisenstein (writer)

Release Date:

8 March 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Biography

Plot:

During the early part of his reign, Ivan the Terrible faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people.

Plot Keywords:

Power | Exile | Coronation | Russia | Tartar

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Nikolai Cherkasov	...	Czar Ivan IV
Lyudmila Tselikovskaya	...	Czarina Anastasia Romanovna
Serafima Birman	...	Boyarina Efrosinia Staritskaya
Mikhail Nazvanov	...	Prince Andrei Kurbsky
Mikhail Zharov	...	Czar's Guard Malyuta Skuratov
Amvrosi Buchma	...	Czar's Guard Aleksei Basmanov
Mikhail Kuznetsov	...	Fyodor Basmanov
Pavel Kadochnikov	...	Vladimir Andreyevich Staritsky
Andrei Abrikosov	...	Boyar Fyodor Kolychev
Aleksandr Mgebrov	...	Novgorod's Archbishop Pimen
Maksim Mikhajlov	...	Archdeacon
Vsevolod Pudovkin	...	Nikola, Simpleton Beggar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pavel Massalsky	...	Sigismond - King of Poland
Sergei Stolyarov
Valentina Kuznetsova	...	A smiling woman in the church (uncredited)
Aleksandr Rumnyov	...	The Stranger (uncredited)
Semyon Timoshenko	...	Kaspar von Oldenbock, Livonian ambassador (uncredited)

Directed by
Sergei M. Eisenstein		(as Sergei Eisenstein)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sergei M. Eisenstein		writer (as Sergei Eisenstein)

Produced by
Sergei M. Eisenstein	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Sergei Prokofiev

Cinematography by
Andrei Moskvin		(interior scenes)
Eduard Tisse		(exterior scenes)

Film Editing by
Sergei M. Eisenstein		(as Sergei Eizenshtein)

Production Design by
Iosif Shpinel		(as I. Shpinel)

Art Direction by
Sergei M. Eisenstein

Costume Design by
Leonid Naumov		(as L. Naumov)
Nadezhda Buzina		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Vasili Goryunov	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
I. Bir	....	assistant director
B. Bunayev	....	assistant director
Valentina Kuznetsova	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Vladimir Bogdankevich	....	sound (as V. Bogdankevich)
Boris Volsky	....	sound (as B. Volsky)

Camera and Electrical Department
Viktor Dombrovsky	....	photographer: second unit

Editorial Department
Esfir Tobak	....	associate editor

Music Department
Igor Lukovsky	....	composer: songs
Abram Stasevich	....	conductor

Other crew
Wolfgang Staudte	....	German version

Production Companies

• Mosfilm
• TsOKS

Distributors

• Artkino Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Kultur Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2005) (USA) (TV)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Corinth Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Tartan Video USA (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Иван Грозный (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Ivan the Terrible, Part One (USA)
Ivane Mriskhane, natsili pirveli (Soviet Union: Georgian title)
Ivan, o Terrível - Parte I (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Iivana Julma (Finland) [fi]
Iván el terrible (Spain) [es]
Ivan den förskräcklige (Sweden) [sv]
Ivan il terribile (Italy) [it]
Ivan le terrible (France) [fr]
Ivan, o tromeros (Greece) [el]
Iwan, der Schreckliche I (Germany) [de]
Korkunç Ivan (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Rettegett Iván 1. (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

103 min | USA:95 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/6 | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Company:

Mosfilm

Trivia:

Took over 3 years to make.

Goofs:

Continuity: Amount of coins in the bowls that are showered over Ivan at the end of the coronation scene.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zizek! (2005)

"If he is strong enough, all will recognise him"

Despite spending his career under an increasingly restrictive regime which regarded cinema as a tool to propagate the government line and needed only the slightest excuse to censor or ban pictures, Sergei Eisenstein always had his own ideas and agendas which shone through the propaganda. Ivan the Terrible was commissioned by the Soviet government to glorify a dead dictator, with whom the living dictator (Stalin) identified, but in Eisenstein's hands it became much more than that – one of the greatest studies of power in the history of cinema.

Ivan the Terrible is primarily concerned with the conflict between the institutional power of the system and the charismatic power of individuals. This theme is all set up in the opening scene. It begins with a shot of the crown, and then goes through the various rituals of Ivan's coronation, whilst in the background various dignitaries whisper their doubts to each other. Ivan's face is not even shown until the crown goes on his head. It's clear at this point that we are seeing the creation of a symbolic figurehead tsar – the rituals and symbols of power mean more than the man himself. However, when Ivan begins to speak he talks of uniting Russia and ruling with an iron fist. From the series of reaction shots, we are told straight away that the assorted aristocrats, state officials and clergymen wanted a puppet ruler, and are now horrified. Throughout the film Eisenstein uses this kind of cinematic shorthand to reveal the shifting loyalties and private thoughts of characters. More than any other film I can think of, you can understand what is going on in Ivan the Terrible without needing to understand the dialogue or see the subtitles – the story is told purely in images.

Although Eisenstein had been making films for twenty years before this, it's clear his style was still evolving. He editing technique prior to this was mostly used to enhance action sequences or make political points through comparisons. Now he uses it to convey emotions and relations between characters. If he had lived a little longer he could perhaps have broadened his horizons and become a director of dramas. Still, as with his previous works this is a story told more through the masses of people – not through the individuals.

Perhaps the biggest change between Eisenstein's early silent works and these later sound films is in their level of stylisation. While the silent films may have been very visually dynamic, the way they were staged and acted was essentially realist – the crowds, the action, the set ups all looked authentic. Ivan the Terrible on the other hand is theatrical, almost operatic – stentorian voices, exaggerated gestures and outlandish looking characters. One thing along these lines that is consistent throughout all his pictures (and was sometimes at odds with the realism of his earlier work) is the way in which he cast and directed his actors so as to leave no doubts as to their character. While the lead roles were filled by strikingly good-looking actors, the villains were often painfully ugly, and are often made to look ridiculous in the way they act. Look at, for example, Ivan's rival for the throne Vladimir, whom Eisenstein turns into a half-wit with a vacant expression. He also likes to remind us of animals – for example the conniving, hunchbacked diplomat who resembles some kind of crow.

Eisenstein also here takes on an expressionist look for the first time – very en vogue in Hollywood at the time, but virtually an unknown movement in Soviet cinema. Ivan the Terrible is set largely in dim, grimy interiors – in contrast to earlier Eisenstein pictures which took place largely outdoors – so the grainy, moody look is quite appropriate. He pays a great deal of attention to lighting, with characters often throwing large shadows against walls very much in the style of Fritz Lang and Michael Curtiz.

Of the two completed parts of Ivan the Terrible (there was to be a third, but it was axed by the government during production), I personally prefer the second. They are more or less identical in style, but Part 1 is made up of a series of short episodes and is a little less engaging. The coronation and wedding scenes are perfectly constructed, and the war on Kazan is up there with the battle scenes in Aleksandr Nevsky. I find the later scenes with Ivan's brush with death and his self-imposed exile a little slow, even though they are still incredibly well made.