Ivan the Terrible

"Ivan the Terrible"
Sergei Eisenstein, 1944 and 1958

“Ivan the Terrible,” the two-part historical epic by the brilliant Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, tends to play out more as a stage production than as an actual film. The actors move in slow, exaggerated motions, the sets are overly sumptuous, and the characters are more inclined to give grand soliloquies than to actively struggle against one another. And in almost every scene, absurdly large church relics and innumerable lords' absurdly grotesque faces fill the frame.

But it is this clash of bizarre elements that gives “Ivan the Terrible” a unique atmosphere that allows us to fully appreciate how difficult it is for Ivan, the newly ordained Tsar, to consolidate power away from the Church and the Boyars (regional lords). Curiously, the trajectory of “Ivan the Terrible” follows that of its filmmaker: it is obvious that Eisenstein was a filmmaker of the silent era. We can sense his unease with the production, from his feeble use of sound to his tendency to oversimplify the power play. Similarly, Ivan's rule has a shaky start – when we first see him at his coronation ceremony, he is young and has an air of naivete, and his bold policies leave him friendless.

Ivan, by the film's second part, successfully transforms himself into a ruthless politician, complete with an aged face and an impressive beard. Eisenstein, too, seems more comfortable with the latter production, and he explores Ivan's struggles to wrest power away from rebellious underlings in a more focused manner. “Ivan the Terrible” is ultimately concerned about two things: how a leader attains power and still maintains his personal integrity, and how a director steps out of his comfort zone and attempts to craft a compelling film in the sound era.

Rating: 7

First Viewed: 10/4/08, on DVD - IMDb