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

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is included in "Eisenstein: The Sound Years", which is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #86.

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Goofs

The conflict between the German Hanse union and Livonia happened during the 1550s, when Czar Ivan IV was in his 20s. In the movie however Ivan was portrayed as a young boy of 8 years.

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Quotes

Czar Ivan IV: [final words] From now on may the sword of justice blaze against those who infringe on beyond the greatness Russian Orb. We won't let Russia be disappointed.

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Crazy Credits

The main cast and their roles is read by the narrator with accompanied footage.

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Connections

Featured in The Secret Life of Sergei Eisenstein (1987)

User Reviews

It should be in a museum.

It's great art.Eisenstein can be compared to Michelangelo,no less.Needless to say,you've got to see part one -slightly inferior to this one,but what does it mean,when you' re watching the seventh art at the height of its terrible powers?-.This part focuses on the feud between Ivan and his aunt who tries to replace him by an effeminate imposter of her choice.Prokofiev music gives the feeling of watching an opera,the scenes in the cathedral recreate a mystery as it was in the Middle Ages as faithfully as you can wish.The peak of the movie remains the banquet,shot in color,thanks to spoils of war film.So stunning is Eisenstein's mastery of the picture that you can hardly exactly tell when the color returns to black and white (which for the final becomes a color in itself)Ivan's last soliloquy might seem aggressive and chauvinistic.But you've got to remember that the USSR were at war at the time ."Ivan" is timeless ,a monument that's as awesome today as it was for its -deleted,because of Stalin- 1958 release.

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