Ivan the Terrible [Parts One & Two]
Directed by M. Sergei Eisenstein
Ivan the Wonderful
Stalin’s favorite Role Model
Despite having been produced over 60 years ago, IVAN THE TERRIBLE
remains one of the most bizarre and compelling movies ever made. It is filmed
in an ultra-expressionist style, despite the fact that expressionism had long
passed its heyday in the 1920's and early 30's. Nonetheless, the style fits
this almost gothic film perfectly. Religious and other symbols of power and
authority are exaggerated, transformed into grotesques. The powerless
peasantry, mired in the darkest ignorance, is presented as a frightening presence
of menace, ever lurking in the background, waiting to be harnessed by the next
tyrant. Ivan himself is depicted as an elongated, Nosferatu-type character with
a moral compass so convoluted as to be nonexistent. The mixing of "song
& dance numbers" under the most monstrous circumstances toward the end
of Part II only enhances the mesmerizing quality of the film. It is said that
Stalin attempted to pressure the director to make this masterpiece more
"Stalinist friendly," but that the filmmaker courageously refused.
Unfortunately almost all other films made during the Stalinist Era reflect the
justifiably maligned, dreary style called "socialist realism."
Nosferatu
- Special Edition
German
Horror Classics (Nosferatu (1922) / The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari / Waxworks /
The Golem)
Review: JEFarrow
Updated 10/07