Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944) by Sergei Eisenstein
Sunday, May 8, 1988, 7:30 pm
Ivan the Terrible, Part I
By Sergei Eisenstein
Ivan the Terrible, Part 1 (1944), 96 min., b&w; Part II (1946), 90 min., b&w/color; both starring Nikolai Cherkassov, photographed by E. Tisse and A. Moskvin, music by S. Prokofiev.
Eisenstein’s final and in many respects grandest achievement is rarely, if ever shown (even in repertory-rich San Francisco). An anti-realist depiction of the life and battles of the notorious 16th century Russian Tsar, Eisenstein’s Ivan is operatic and richly stylized in its use of space, movement, and period detail. Criticized by Stalin for its representation of totalitarian power, the second part was suppressed until 1958.