Rent Ivan the Terrible: Part 1 (1944)
3.7 of 5 from 94 ratings
1h 34min
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- Synopsis:
Before his birth in 1530, many omens were observed and many prophecies made about the child to be born to the second wife of Vasily III as he was to be descended from generations in conflict and, to aid these predictions, he was born in the middle of a thunderstorm. Ivan (Nikolay Cherkasov) had Greek origins although his mother was from the line of Khan Mamay of the Golden Horde and his father, Vasily III, was descended from one of the Khan's enemies, Dmitry Donskoy. On hearing of his birth, the wife of the Khan of Kazan is reported to have said, "A Tsar is born among you; two teeth has he. With one he will devour us. But with the other, you". Ivan became Tsar (from the word 'Caesar') at the age of three, although power was held by regents who were named by Ivan's father on his deathbed. Ivan and his brother were treated like princes in public but, when not in public, treated harshly. As a result to this, Ivan began to treat others badly too, torturing animals, running down peasants with his horse; thus learning this cruel side of ruling at an early age. The story begins with Ivan's coronation at the age of sixteen. One month later, contrary to custom that demanded he marry a foreign princess, he marries Anastasia (Lyudmila Tselikovskaya), a Russian girl from the Romanov family - much to the distaste of the establishment. Influenced by the Metropolitan of Moscow and his good friend the chamberlain Alexi Adashev, Ivan institutes many reforms to the legal code, the church and the military. The nobles try to overthrow him but without success and he destroys the Mogul's centuries-old power base. He then seeks to break the coalitions of neighbouring states that are cutting off Moscow's maritime access to the West. Ivan then decides to expand his power eastward and, in 1552, with 100,000 men and 150 cannon he advances on Kazan. The gateway to the Urals and Siberia was taken after months of fighting although Ivan does not advance further east. Ivan becomes ill in 1553 and is told that he will die. He tries to force the boyars, who are headed by his aunt Euphrosinia (Serafima Birman), swear allegiance to his son who is not yet one year old, but they refuse. This outrages Ivan. In 1560, during a period of consolidation of power against the boyars, Anastasia is poisoned. This causes Ivan to retreat to an estate outside Moscow and threaten to abdicate. A mass delegation from the city arrives to beg him to return. This is the decisive moment for Ivan - now he can achieve full power. - Actors:
- Nikolay Cherkasov, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Serafima Birman, Mikhail Nazvanov, Mikhail Zharov, Amvrosi Buchma, Mikhail Kuznetsov, Pavel Kadochnikov, Andrei Abrikosov, Aleksandr Mgebrov, Maksim Mikhaylov, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Pavel Massalsky, Sergei Stolyarov
- Directors:
- Sergei M. Eisenstein
- Producers:
- Sergei M. Eisenstein
- Writers:
- Sergei M. Eisenstein
- Aka:
- Ivan Groznyy
- Studio:
- Eureka
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Classical Music on Film: Composers, A Brief History of Coronations on Screen, A Few More Screen Princes, A History of Soviet Silent Cinema, Battleship Potemkin At 100, Getting to Know: Catherine Deneuve, Top 10 Best Last Films: World Cinema, Top 10 Films of 1948, What to Watch Next If You Liked The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Countries:
- Soviet Union
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Reviews (1) of Ivan the Terrible: Part 1
Smuggled In - Ivan the Terrible: Part 1 review by griggs
Apparently the downside of knowing something about Ivan the Terrible is spending ninety-odd minutes muttering "well, sort of" at Sergei Eisenstein. Blame my university reading.
Still, what a thing to look at. Faces loom out of the dark, and shadows dwarf the men casting them. Nikolai Cherkasov plays Ivan through posture, profile and a beard that could shelter a small village. The boyars hover like a nest of wasps in fur hats. Sergei Prokofiev's score does half the acting, with a choir whenever history needs underlining.
The trouble is I kept watching the politics. Power looks magnificent, necessary and faintly terrifying, often within one shot. Take the final procession: an entire people trudging through snow to beg their indispensable leader home. I could see why Joseph Stalin liked it while wondering what Eisenstein had smuggled in.
Everyone seems five seconds from announcing the apocalypse, and some scenes are so stately I wanted to give them a gentle shove.
Next time the historian stays home, and those shadows get a screen big enough to deserve them.
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