Ivan the Terrible, Part II (1958)

As Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate their Tsar.

Director:

Sergei M. Eisenstein

Writer:

Sergei M. Eisenstein

Stars:

Nikolay Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Pavel Kadochnikov

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Nikolay Cherkasov	...	Czar Ivan IV
Serafima Birman	...	Boyarina Efrosinia Staritskaya
Pavel Kadochnikov	...	Vladimir Andreyevich Staritsky
Mikhail Zharov	...	Czar's Guard Malyuta Skuratov
Amvrosi Buchma	...	Czar's Guard Aleksei Basmanov
Vsevolod Pudovkin	...	Nikolay the Fanatic (as V.I. Pudovkin)
Mikhail Kuznetsov	...	Fyodor Basmanov
Aleksandr Mgebrov	...	Novgorod's Archbishop Pimen
Andrei Abrikosov	...	Archbishop Philip (formerly Fyodor Kolychev)
Vladimir Balashov	...	Pyotr Volynets
Erik Pyryev	...	Ivan IV as a boy
Mikhail Nazvanov	...	Prince Andrei Kurbsky
Pavel Massalsky	...	King Sigismund of Poland
Ada Vojtsik	...	Elena Glinskaya, Ivan's Mother

Storyline

His wife dead from poisoning and his chief warrior, Kurbsky, defected to the Poles, Ivan is lonely as he pursues a unified Russia with no foreign occupiers. Needing friendship, he brings to court Kolychev, now Philip the monk, and makes him metropolitan bishop of Moscow. Philip, however, takes his cues from the boyars and tries to bend Ivan to the will of the church. Ivan faces down Philip and lets loose his private force, the Oprichniks, on the boyars. Led by the Tsar's aunt, Euphrosyne, the boyers plot to assassinate Ivan and enthrone her son, Vladimir. At a banquet, Ivan mockingly crowns Vladimir and sends him in royal robes into the cathedral where the assassin awaits.

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Plot Keywords:

tzar | brutality | despotic rule | despot | czar | 

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Genres:

Biography | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

24 November 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Boyars' Plot

Filming Locations:

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,655

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm, Tsentralnuyu Obedinyonnuyu Kinostudiyu (TsOKS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 83 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color (Bi-Color)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

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Goofs

When Vladimir sits in drunken slumber on the Czar's throne, in the medium shots his head is leaning to his right, but in the long shot as Ivan approaches, it leans to his left.

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Connections

Featured in Les enfants jouent à la Russie (1993)

User Reviews

One of the true masterpieces of the cinema...

This space can't afford me the kind of gargantuan platform needed to speak on Eisenstein's masterwork (both parts) with the sort of attention to detail and passion that the director brings to the story of the Russian tsar. This is the rarest of films that stands as a testament to how cinema can extend beyond an entertainment and exist as a singular work of art and a document that works to expand our knowledge of the human condition. Every frame is rich, every scene speaks far more than any written line or action. The production is a phenomenal achievement in the absolute totality of the collaborative effort; the actors, the set, the cinematography, the soundtrack - every facet of the film-making process has worked to create a seamless connection. While the approach of the actors, the lighting and the choices of camera angles frustrate our standard ideas of what a movie should look and feel like, there is a design here; it is precise and it is brilliant. This is a film for those viewers who, as Eisenstein famously said, read (not just watched) the images on the screen. One of the two or three true masterworks in the history of movies.