Russian History ; Dramatic ;" Ivan The Terrible" by Eisenstein
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Ivan the Terrible (1944 film)
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| Ivan the Terrible | |
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Theatrical poster of Ivan the Terrible
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| Directed by | Sergei Eisenstein |
| Produced by | Sergei Eisenstein |
| Written by | Sergei Eisenstein |
| Starring | Nikolai Cherkasov (Ivan) Lyudmila Tselikovskaya(Anastasia) Serafima Birman (Aunt Efrosinia) Mikhail Nazvanov |
| Music by | Sergei Prokofiev |
| Cinematography | Andrei Moskvin Eduard Tisse |
Release date
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Running time
| 187 minutes Part 1: 99 minutes Part 2: 88 minutes |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
Ivan the Terrible (Russian: Иван Грозный, Ivan Grozniy) is a two-part historical epic film about Ivan IV of Russia, written and directed by the filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. It was commissioned by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, who admired and identified himself with Ivan.
Part I was released in 1944; Part II was not released until 1958, as it was banned on the order of Stalin, who became incensed over the depiction of Ivan therein. Eisenstein had developed the scenario to require a third part to finish the story but, with the banning of Part II, filming of Part III was stopped; after Eisenstein's death in 1948, what had been completed of Part III was destroyed.
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Plot[edit]
Part I[edit]
In the prologue Ivan's mother and her lover are murdered by the boyars. Later Ivan is enthroned as Grand Prince of Moscow.[1]
Part I begins with Ivan's coronation as Tsar of all the Russians, amid grumbling from the boyars. Ivan makes a speech proclaiming his intent to unite and protect Russia against the foreign armies outside her borders and the enemies within – a reference to the boyars, who are already seen as discontented with his coronation. Shortly after, Ivan marries Anastasia Romanovna and there is a wedding celebration. This causes him to lose the friendship of his two best friends, Prince Andrei Kurbsky and Fyodor Kolychev. The latter receives Ivan's permission to retire to a monastery, while Kurbsky attempts to resume his romance with the Tsarina, who repels his advances.
The marriage feast is interrupted by news of the burning of several boyar palaces, carried into the Tsar's palace by a mob of the common people who also complain that the Tsar is being led astray by the Tsarina's family (the Romanovs), the Glinskys and the Zakharins. Ivan calms the crowd, but is interrupted by envoys from the khanate of Kazan, who send him a ceremonial knife with the suggestion that he do himself a favor by using it to commit suicide. Ivan immediately proclaims that his kingdom is at war with Kazan.
The next scene shows the siege of Kazan, in which Ivan's army digs saps underneath the city and fills them with gunpowder. Kurbsky, nominally in command, is reprimanded by Ivan for senseless brutality (he ties Tartar prisoners to palisades within earshot of the walls of Kazan and tells them to shout to the city to surrender; the defending archers immediately shoot the prisoners). The city of Kazan falls to the Russian army.
During his return from Kazan, Ivan falls seriously ill and is thought to be on his deathbed; Orthodox priests come to give him the last rites before he dies. Ivan sends for his relatives and orders them to swear allegiance to his son, the infant Dmitri, reminding them of the need for a single ruler to keep Russia united. They demur, with Ivan's aunt, Efrosinia Staritskaya, openly urging the others to swear allegiance to her son, Vladimir, instead. Emotionally overwrought, Ivan collapses and is thought dead. The relatives, celebrating, all begin to swear allegiance to Vladimir, the "boyar tsar" they have hoped for; meanwhile, Kurbsky is uncertain of his own loyalty, trying to decide between the two sides. However, when the Tsarina says, "Do not bury a man before he is dead," Kurbsky realizes that Ivan is still alive, and hurriedly swears his allegiance to Ivan's infant son, Dmitri. He is sent, as a reward, to the western border of the kingdom to defend against the Livonians and Poles. At the same time, Ivan dispatches Alexei Basmanov, a commoner he likes, to the south to take care of the Crimean border. The fact that Ivan promotes a commoner over them creates more discontent amongst the boyars.
The Tsarina now falls ill, and while Ivan is receiving bad news from all fronts, the boyars plot to kill her. Efrosinia comes into the palace with a cup of wine hidden in her robes, in which she has put poison. Just as the royal couple receive word that Kurbsky has defected to the Livonians, Efrosinia slips the cup of wine into the room and listens from behind a wall. The news that Kurbsky is a traitor gives the Tsarina a convulsion and Ivan, looking around for a drink to calm her, takes the poisoned wine and gives it to her.
The scene changes to show the dead Tsarina lying in state in the cathedral, with Ivan mourning beside her bier. While a monk reads biblical verses over the body, Ivan questions his own justifications and ability to rule, wondering if his wife's death is God's punishment on him. However, he pulls himself out of it, and sends for Kolychev. At this point, Alexei Basmanov arrives, suggesting that Ivan surround himself with men he can trust – common people, "iron men," the Oprichniki – and offers his (rather startled) son, Fyodor, for service. Ivan accepts, and sets about recouping his losses. He abdicates and leaves Moscow, waiting until the people beg him to return, saying that he now rules with absolute power by the will of the people.
Part 2[edit]
Part II opens in the court of King Sigismund of Poland, to whom Kurbsky swears allegiance. Sigismund promises to make Kurbsky ruler of Ivan's territories, once he exploits the tsar's absence by conquering them. The plan is foiled when an emissary announces that Ivan has returned to Moscow.
Ivan begins by reforming the land distribution: he takes the boyars' lands, then reinstalls them as managers, increasing his own power at their expense. His friend, Kolychev, arrives, now the monk Philip; after a heated debate, Philip agrees to become metropolitan of Moscow, if Ivan gives him the right to intercede for condemned men. This is mutually agreed upon. But as soon as it is settled, Ivan, propelled by his lieutenant Malyuta Skuratov, finds a way around this: he executes condemned men quickly, before Philip can use his right. In this way he has three of Philip's kinsmen executed.
Fyodor Basmanov, the first of the Oprichniki, helps Ivan figure out that the Tsarina was poisoned, and both suspect Efrosinia of poisoning the cup of wine. Ivan orders Fyodor not to say anything about it until he (Ivan) is certain beyond doubt of her guilt.
The boyars, close to desperation, plead their case to Philip and eventually win him over. He vows to block Ivan's abuse of power, and confronts him in the cathedral while a miracle play is being presented. As the argument heats up, Ivan, angry, proclaims that he will be exactly what the boyars call him – terrible – and has Philip seized. The boyars now decide that their only option is to assassinate Ivan, and the novice Pyotr is selected to wield the knife.
Ivan, now certain of Efrosinia's guilt, invites Vladimir, her son, to a banquet with the Oprichniki. (From here, the film is in colour.) Ivan gets Vladimir drunk while the Oprichniki sing and dance around them; Vladimir mentions that there is a plot to kill Ivan, and he, Vladimir, is to replace him as Tsar. Fyodor Basmanov notices the assassin leaving, and signals to Ivan, who, pretending surprise at Vladimir's revelation, suggests Vladimir try being Tsar for a while, and has the Oprichniki bring throne, orb, scepter, crown and royal robes, and they all bow down to "Tsar Vladimir." Then Ivan tells Vladimir to lead them to the cathedral in prayer, as a Tsar should lead. (Back to black-and-white.) Hesitantly, Vladimir does.
In the cathedral, the assassin runs up, stabs the mock Tsar and is immediately seized by Fyodor and Malyuta. Efrosinia arrives, jubilant at the apparent death of Ivan, until she sees Ivan alive; rolling the corpse over, she realizes it is her own son. Ivan orders Fyodor and Malyuta to release Pyotr, the assassin, and thanks him for killing not only “a fool”, but “the tsar's worst enemy”. He sentences Efrosinia, who is holding the crown her son was wearing and is singing over his dead body as if deranged. (Back to colour.) At the end, Ivan is seen proclaiming that all his enemies within Moscow are ruthlessly vanquished and he can now turn his attention to those outside.
Cast[edit]
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Ivan Vasilyevich (Nikolay Cherkasov) – The movies show Ivan more as monarch than man, detailing his struggles to unite Russia and his difficulties in overcoming the traditional, boyar-run government. While not exactly sympathetic, Ivan is shown as having to fight fire with fire—having to be ruthless and brutal for the good of the country. In some ways, he is a victim of the boyars, especially during flashbacks to his childhood and early adolescence. The movies also detail Ivan's gradual slide into suspicion and paranoia. This was the aspect that displeased Stalin.
Efrosinia of Staritsa (Serafima Birman) – Ivan's aunt Efrosinia, usually dressed in black, is the chief villain of the piece, willing to do anything to get her son Vladimir on the throne. She is adamantly traditionalist and hates the Tsarina, relentlessly pushing the other boyars to oppose Ivan in any way they can, and is instrumental in the assassination plot against him. She also foments discord between Ivan and Kurbsky, saying that Ivan plots to kill Kurbsky in the future.
Vladimir of Staritsa (Pavel Kadochnikov) – Vladimir, Efrosinia's adult son with the mind of a child, is the main challenger to Ivan as tsar. He is Ivan's cousin but has none of his intelligence, forcefulness, or drive, and is content to drink and listen to his mother sing.
Malyuta Skuratov (Mikhail Zharov) – Malyuta, Ivan's aide, is shown as one of his secret police. He is the one who suggests executing condemned men quickly to circumvent Philip's attempts at intercession, and is portrayed as sneaky, ruthless, and something of a sycophant.
Alexei Basmanov (Amvrosy Buchma) – The elder Basmanov is a commoner, a self-described hater of the boyars and a great opportunist. He rises to power, commanding armies in the Crimea, and becoming one of Ivan's trusted lieutenants.
Fyodor Basmanov (Mikhail Kuznetsov) – Alexei Basmanov's only son, Fyodor is, at the beginning, awed by the Tsar and his mystique; his personality changes dramatically en route to Part II. After becoming one of the Oprichnina, Fyodor is shown as ruthless, bloodthirsty, and fanatical.
Tsarina Anastasia (Lyudmila Tselikovskaya) – Though she appears only in Part I, the Tsarina is one of her husband's staunchest supporters and is completely loyal to him, rejecting the advances of Prince Kurbsky. She urges Ivan to be firm in dealing with the boyars, which creates enmity toward her. Her murder by the boyars in the hopes of breaking Ivan will lead to Ivan's gradual slide into madness.
Other characters in the story include: Prince Andrew Kurbsky (Mikhail Nazvanov); Boyar Kolychev, afterwards Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow (Andrei Abrikosov); and Pimen, at first Metropolitan of Moscow, afterwards Archbishop of Novgorod (Alexander Mgebrov).[2]
Genesis[edit]
During World War II, with the Axis forces approaching Moscow, Eisenstein was one of many Moscow-based filmmakers who were evacuated to Alma Ata, in the Kazakh SSR. There, Eisenstein first considered the idea of making a film about Tsar Ivan IV, aka Ivan the Terrible, whom Joseph Stalin admired as the same kind of brilliant, decisive, successful leader that Stalin considered himself to be.[3] Aware of Eisenstein's interest in a project about Ivan, Stalin ordered the making of the film with Eisenstein as author-director.
The scenario of Ivan the Terrible had been accepted by Mosfilm in the form of two full-length films. Eisenstein considered splitting the screenplay into three parts and discussed this with Grigori Alexandrov, who was against this. But he ended up ignoring Alexandrov's advice and changed the film from two parts to three.[4]
Stalin and Eisenstein met in late February 1947 regarding Ivan the Terrible Part 2 and they never completed Part 3.[5]
History:
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (December 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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| Ivan IV | |||||
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Forensic facial reconstruction of Ivan IV by Mikhail Gerasimov[1]
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| Tsar of Russia | |||||
| Reign | 16 January 1547 – 28 March 1584 | ||||
| Coronation | 16 January 1547 | ||||
| Predecessor | Monarchy established | ||||
| Successor | Feodor I | ||||
| Grand Prince of Moscow | |||||
| Reign | 3 December 1533 – 16 January 1547 | ||||
| Predecessor | Vasili III | ||||
| Successor | Himself as Tsar of Russia | ||||
| Born | 25 August 1530 Kolomenskoye, Grand Duchy of Moscow | ||||
| Died | 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584 (aged 53) Moscow, Tsardom of Russia | ||||
| Burial |
Cathedral of the Archangel, Moscow
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| Spouses | |||||
| Issue more... | |||||
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| Dynasty | Rurik | ||||
| Father | Vasili III of Russia | ||||
| Mother | Elena Glinskaya | ||||
| Religion | Russian Orthodox | ||||
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (/ˈaɪvən/; Russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич, tr. Ivan Vasilyevich; 25 August 1530 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584),[2] commonly known as Ivan the Terrible (Russian: 
Ива́н Гро́зный (help·info), Ivan Grozny; "Ivan the Formidable" or "Ivan the Fearsome"), was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584.
Ива́н Гро́зный (help·info), Ivan Grozny; "Ivan the Formidable" or "Ivan the Fearsome"), was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584.
Ivan was the crown prince of Vasili III, the Rurikid ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and was appointed Grand Prince at three years-old after his father's death. Ivan was proclaimed Tsar (Emperor) of All Rus' in 1547 at the age of seventeen, establishing the Tsardom of Russia with Moscow as the predominant state. Ivan's reign was characterized by Russia's transformation from a medieval state into an empire under the Tsar, though at immense cost to its people and its broader, long-term economy. Ivan conquered the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan and Sibir, with Russia becoming a multiethnic and multicontinental state spanning approximately 4,050,000 km2(1,560,000 sq mi), developing a bureaucracy to administer the new territories. Ivan triggered the Livonian War, which ravaged Russia and resulted in the loss of Livonia and Ingria, but allowed him to exercise greater autocratic control over Russia's nobility, whom he violently purged in the Oprichnina. Ivan was an able diplomat, a patron of arts and trade, and the founder of Russia's first publishing house, the Moscow Print Yard. Ivan was popular among Russia's commoners (see Ivan the Terrible in Russian folklore) except for the people of Novgorod and surrounding areas who were subject to the Massacre of Novgorod.
Historic sources present disparate accounts of Ivan's complex personality: he was described as intelligent and devout, but also prone to paranoia, rages, and episodic outbreaks of mental instability that increased with age.[3][4][5] Ivan is popularly believed to have killed his eldest son and heir Ivan Ivanovich and the latter's unborn son during his outbursts, which left the politically ineffectual Feodor Ivanovich to inherit the throne, a man whose rule directly led to the end of the Rurikid dynasty and the beginning of the Time of Troubles.
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Sobriquet[edit]
The English word terrible is usually used to translate the Russian word grozny in Ivan's nickname, but this is a somewhat archaic translation. The Russian word grozny reflects the older English usage of terrible as in "inspiring fear or terror; dangerous; powerful; formidable". It does not convey the more modern connotations of English terrible, such as "defective" or "evil". Vladimir Dal defines grozny specifically in archaic usage and as an epithet for tsars: "courageous, magnificent, magisterial and keeping enemies in fear, but people in obedience".[6] Other translations have also been suggested by modern scholars.[7][8][9]
Early life[edit]
Ivan was the first son of Vasili III and his second wife, Elena Glinskaya, who was of half Serbian and half Lipka Tatar descent,[10] the Glinski clan (nobles based in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) claiming descent from the Mongol ruler Mamai (1335–1380.)[11][12] When Ivan was three years old, his father died from an abscess and inflammation on his leg that developed into blood poisoning. Ivan was proclaimed the Grand Prince of Moscow at the request of his father. His mother Elena Glinskaya initially acted as regent, but she died of what many believe to be assassination by poison,[13][14] in 1538 when Ivan was only eight years old. The regency then alternated between several feuding boyar families fighting for control. According to his own letters, Ivan, along with his younger brother Yuri, often felt neglected and offended by the mighty boyars from the Shuisky and Belsky families. In a letter to Prince Kurbski Ivan remembers, "My brother Iurii, of blessed memory, and me they brought up like vagrants and children of the poorest. What have I suffered for want of garments and food!![15] " It should be noted, however, that the historian Edward L Keenan has presented compelling reasons to doubt the authenticity of the source in which these quotes are found.[16]
On 16 January 1547, at age sixteen, Ivan was crowned with Monomakh's Cap at the Cathedral of the Dormition. He was the first to be crowned as "Tsar of All the Russias", hence claiming the ancestry of Kievan Rus'. Prior to that, rulers of Muscovy were crowned as Grand Princes, although Ivan III the Great, his grandfather, styled himself "tsar" in his correspondence. Two weeks after his coronation, Ivan married his first wife Anastasia Romanovna, a member of the Romanov family, who became the first Russian tsaritsa.
By being crowned Tsar, Ivan was sending a message to the world and to Russia: he was now the only supreme ruler of the country, and his will was not to be questioned. "The new title symbolized an assumption of powers equivalent and parallel to those held by former Byzantine Emperor and the Tatar Khan, both known in Russian sources as Tsar. The political effect was to elevate Ivan's position."[17] The new title not only secured the throne, but it also granted Ivan a new dimension of power, one intimately tied to religion. He was now a "divine" leader appointed to enact God's will, as "church texts described Old Testament kings as 'Tsars' and Christ as the Heavenly Tsar."[18]The newly appointed title was then passed on from generation to generation: "succeeding Muscovite rulers ... benefited from the divine nature of the power of the Russian monarch ... crystallized during Ivan's reign."[19]
Domestic policy[edit]
Despite calamities triggered by the Great Fire of 1547, the early part of Ivan's reign was one of peaceful reforms and modernization. Ivan revised the law code, creating the Sudebnik of 1550, founded a standing army (the streltsy),[20] established the Zemsky Sobor (the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type) and the council of the nobles (known as the Chosen Council), and confirmed the position of the Church with the Council of the Hundred Chapters (Stoglavy Synod), which unified the rituals and ecclesiastical regulations of the whole country. He introduced local self-government to rural regions, mainly in the northeast of Russia, populated by the state peasantry.
By Ivan's order in 1553 the Moscow Print Yard was established and the first printing press was introduced to Russia. Several religious books in Russian were printed during the 1550s and 1560s. The new technology provoked discontent among traditional scribes, leading to the Print Yard being burned in an arson attack. The first Russian printers, Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, were forced to flee from Moscow to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Nevertheless, printing of books resumed from 1568 onwards, with Andronik Timofeevich Nevezha and his son Ivan now heading the Print Yard.
Ivan had St. Basil's Cathedral constructed in Moscow to commemorate the seizure of Kazan. There is a false legend that he was so impressed with the structure that he had the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, blinded so that he could never design anything as beautiful again. In reality, Postnik Yakovlev went on to design more churches for Ivan and the walls of the Kazan Kremlin in the early 1560s, as well as the chapel over St. Basil's grave that was added to St. Basil's Cathedral in 1588, several years after Ivan's death. Although more than one architect was associated with this name and constructions, it is believed that the principal architect is one and the same person.[21][22][23]
Other events of this period include the introduction of the first laws restricting the mobility of the peasants, which would eventually lead to serfdom, instituted during the rule of future tsar Boris Godunov in 1597.[24] (See also Serfdom in Russia.)
Oprichnina[edit]
The 1560s brought to Russia hardships that led to a dramatic change of Ivan's policies. Russia was devastated by a combination of drought and famine, unsuccessful wars against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Tatar invasions and the sea-trading blockade carried out by the Swedes, Poles and the Hanseatic League. His first wife, Anastasia Romanovna, died in 1560, and her death was suspected to be a poisoning. This personal tragedy deeply hurt Ivan and it is thought to have affected his personality, if not his mental health. At the same time, one of Ivan's advisors, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, defected to the Lithuanians, took command of the Lithuanian troops and devastated the Russian region of Velikiye Luki. This series of treasons made Ivan paranoically suspicious of nobility.
On 3 December 1564, Ivan departed Moscow for Aleksandrova Sloboda. From there he sent two letters in which he announced his abdication because of the alleged embezzlement and treason of the aristocracy and clergy. The boyar court was unable to rule in Ivan's absence and feared the wrath of the Muscovite citizenry. A boyar envoy departed for Aleksandrova Sloboda to beg Ivan to return to the throne.[25][26] Ivan agreed to return on condition of being granted absolute power (see Absolute monarchy). He demanded that he should be able to execute and confiscate the estates of traitors without interference from the boyar council or church. Upon this, Ivan decreed the creation of the oprichnina.[27]
The oprichnina consisted of a separate territory within the borders of Russia, mostly in the territory of the former Novgorod Republic in the north. Ivan held exclusive power over the oprichnina territory. The Boyar Council ruled the zemshchina ('land'), the second division of the state. Ivan also recruited a personal guard known as the Oprichniki. Originally it was a thousand strong.[26][28] The oprichniki were headed by Malyuta Skuratov. One known oprichnik was the German adventurer Heinrich von Staden. The oprichniki enjoyed social and economic privileges under the oprichnina. They owed their allegiance and status to Ivan, not to heredity or local bonds.[26]
The first wave of persecutions targeted primarily the princely clans of Russia, notably the influential families of Suzdal. Ivan executed, exiled or forcibly tonsured prominent members of the boyar clans on questionable accusations of conspiracy. Among those executed were the Metropolitan Philip and the prominent warlord Alexander Gorbaty-Shuisky. In 1566 Ivan extended the oprichnina to eight central districts. Of the 12,000 nobles there, 570 became oprichniks, and the rest were expelled.[29]
Under the new political system, the Oprichniki were given large estates, but unlike the previous landlords, could not be held accountable for their actions. These men "took virtually all the peasants possessed, forcing them to pay 'in one year as much as [they] used to pay in ten.'"[30] This degree of oppression resulted in increasing cases of peasants fleeing, which in turn led to a drop in the overall production. The price of grain increased by a factor of ten.
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