Product Information
Originally conceived as a historical epic in three parts, Sergei Eisenstein's epic biography of Czar Ivan IV, the murderous 16th-century unifier of the Russian people, was truncated by the director's death in 1948, as he was about to begin part three. A spectacle of impressively baroque splendor, it remains one of the great anomalies of film history. Starring Nikolai Cherkassov as the eponymous ruler, the film opens with the 16-year-old's opulent coronation in 1546. He breaks with the custom of marriage to a foreign princess by marrying a Russian girl, Anastasia Romanovna (Lyudmila Tselikovskaya), thereby offending the nobility. In an effort to expand his territory eastward, he leads an army of 100,000 to seize Kazan, succeeding only after a long and bitter campaign. After contracting a seemingly fatal illness, Ivan summons the boyars, led by his aunt Euphrosinia (Serafima Birman), but they refuse his demand to swear allegiance to his one-year-old son, greatly angering the czar. When Ivan miraculously returns to health, he begins to consolidate power in opposition to the boyars. While Cherkassov gives a commanding performance, it's the film's unique visual quality, featuring spectacularly ornate set design and costumes, along with a performance style influenced by Russian classism, grand opera, and Kabuki theater, that makes it such a rewarding experience.Product Identifiers
UPC0014381457728
eBay Product ID (ePID)3101264
Product Key Features
ActorNikolai Cherkassov
RatingNR
Movie/TV TitleIvan the Terrible-Pt. 1
DirectorSergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein, Sergei Eisenstein
FormatDVD
Release Year1998
GenreForeign Language
Sub-GenreRussian, Biography
Additional Product Features
Region CodeRegion0
Number of Discs1
Country/Region of ManufactureRussia
Signal StandardDvd
Leading RoleNikolai Cherkassov
Release Date19980902