Samenvattingen(1)
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. (officiële tekst van distribiteur)
(meer)Recensie (1)
Sergei Eisenstein is a giant of Russian and indeed world cinema, and Ivan the Terrible, Part One is a great costume drama, but somehow I didn't feel the grandeur I expected from it. The crowd scenes are there, as usual, but even they felt somewhat subdued as if their full potential wasn't fully realized. I didn't like the first part much, as it couldn't hold my attention.
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Galerie (13)
Foto © Alma Ata Studio
![Ivan Groznyy - Van film](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/158/098/158098239_d575cc.jpg)