Ivan the Terrible - Pt. 2
by Sergei M. Eisenstein, M. Filimonova
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Amvrosi Buchma, Mikhail Zharov, Nikolai Cherkasov, Pavel Kadochnikov, Serafima BirmanDirector: M. Filimonova, Sergei M. Eisenstein
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: Russian (Original Language), PCM Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-10-28
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Ivan the Terrible - Pt. 2
Movie Review: "What pleasure is it to be a tsar?"
Summary: 5 Stars
So asks a tormented Ivan in this second part of Eisenstein's "Ivan the Terrible." Ivan 2 is, I think, a better production than Ivan 1. The interplay of light and shadow that Eisenstein so masterfully achieves comes through here with splendid effect: Ivan, the out-of-control, lonely, isolated, and half-mad tsar is really a little man who casts a disproportionately large shadow. Eisenstein expresses this truth throughout the film with his camera shots and lighting. No wonder Stalin took such offence at the film, which didn't see the light of day until the Soviet Tsar of All the Russias died.
The Ivan in Part 2 is obviously crazy and power-hungry. But the viewer is able to sympathize just a little bit with him because he's so miserable. Nor are his adversaries much better. The religious authorities plot against him because they are jealous of his power--the Orthodox Metropolitan is described at one point as having a white cowl but a black soul--and Ivan's aunt Serifima, who's been his nemesis in both of the film's parts, is just as obsessed with power as Ivan.
Two magnificent scenes in Ivan 2 especially stand out: the accusatory skit in the cathedral, in which Ivan's excesses are "safely" denounced in a passion play, and the assassination of Ivan's half-witted cousin and the destruction of Serifima's schemes. They both really stand out as high points in the history of western cinema.
The theme throughout the film is that a sovereign should be good, but should be willing to take the path of evil if it's absolutely necessary for the survival of his nation--the "dirty hands" motif. Eisenstein's film is deliberately ambivalent in addressing the dirty hands issue, which was probably a coded criticism of Stalin.
The film is mostly in black and white. Towards the end, the film rolls over to color, and then in its final moments switches back to black and white. I don't think this is a deliberate artistic decision so much as a technical issue.
Summary of Ivan the Terrible - Pt. 2
Sergei Eisenstein's saga of Czar Ivan IV continues with the struggle for power and the use of secret police, a controversial segment that caused the film to be banned by Stalin in 1946 (the film was not released until 1958). The predominantly black-and-white film features a banquet dance sequence in color. Obviously the two parts must be viewed as a whole to be fully appreciated. Many film historians consider this period in Eisenstein's career less interesting than his silent period because of a sentimental return to archaic forms (characteristic of Soviet society in the '30s and '40s). Perhaps it was just part of his maturity. --Bill DesowitzArt House & International DVD Video
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