Ivan the Terrible, Part I
Release date: 1944-11-11
Votes: 221
Genres: Drama, History
Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which was never completed due to the producer's dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's attempts to use forbidden experimental filming techniques and excessive cost overruns. The second part was completed but not released for a decade after Eisenstein's death and a change of heart in the USSR government toward his work; the third part was only in its earliest stage of filming when shooting was stopped altogether.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
Nikolay Cherkasov is superb in this speculative biopic of the infamous Tsar of all the Russias. Made towards the end of the Second World War, Sergei Eisenstein manages to create a magnificent depiction of just how this often barbaric, but actually rather shrewd and intelligent 16th century monarch inherited and retained his throne despite plots and intrigues from his court, his people, his nobles - basically, just about everyone. His goal? Well that is presented in an almost Stalinist style. To unite the Russian peoples and to protect them from the oppression of those who would invade their land and take away their freedoms. The anti-Nazi rhetoric is front, centre and potent. This is also a terrific historical epic with great attention to detail, some penetrating photographic techniques and a string supporting actors portraying friend and foe that all offers us a captivating, sometimes quite claustrophobic, illustration of a nation and a government that seems frequently but a hair's breath from insanity. Lyudmila Tselikovskaya is superb as his conspiring Tsarina Anastasia as is Serafima Birman as his even more duplicitous aunt Efrosinia who has designs on his throne for her own son Vladimir - who rather epitomises the theory of the inbred degenerate identified by Josef von Sternberg in "The Scarlett Empress" made ten years earlier. At times it has the theatrical style of a silent film; the lighting and staging and the eyes - indeed the facial expressions in general, combined with the rousing Prokofiev score convey much more than any mere dialogue ever could. A finer tale of power lust, debauchery and metal instability you will never see in film - and I loved it!
Movie Recommendation
Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot1958-10-10This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's introducing forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, more evident in this part than the first part. As it was, this second part was banned from showings until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, and a change of attitude by the subsequent heads of the Soviet government. In this part, as Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate him.More...
Brighton Rock1948-01-09Centring on the activities of a gang of assorted criminals and, in particular, their leader – a vicious young hoodlum known as "Pinkie" – the film's main thematic concern is the criminal underbelly evident in inter-war Brighton.More...
The Thin Man Goes Home1944-12-24On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.More...
Blackmail1929-07-28London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.More...
The Woman in the Window1944-10-25A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.More...
Ceddo1978-02-16The Ceddo people try to preserve their traditional African culture against the onslaught of Islam, Christianity, and the slave trade. When King Demba War sides with the Muslims, the Ceddo kidnap his daughter, Princess Dior Yacine, to protest their forcible conversion to Islam.More...
Be Sure to Share2009-06-01Shiro's struggle with his father's cancer and impending death leads to a realization that he must communicate his love and admiration for him before it's too late. A series of flashbacks reveals their relationship over time, and the trouble Shiro faced connecting to his strict father who was also his teacher and soccer coach. With a consuming secret of his own, Shiro, now in his late twenties and about to get engaged, must eventually learn how to share the pain of it with his loved ones.More...
The Hero2019-09-26Fifteen years ago Andrey graduated from a Secret Service school under the guidance of his father, that trained teenagers to be agents for the Foreign Intelligence Service. When this experimental school is closed, he settles in Europe and cuts ties with Russia. One day his father who was believed to be dead calls him to warn him that some security forces want Andrey dead so he must run and hide. While on the run Andrey finds Masha, his ex-classmate from the Secret Service school. He faces love and betrayal and learns the real scale of the ruthless spy game that he was dragged into against his will.More...
Memories1995-12-23Three back-to-back anime films by three different directors make up this sci-fi trilogy three years in the making.More...
Ivan's Childhood1962-05-09In WW2, twelve year old Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev works for the Soviet army as a scout behind the German lines and strikes a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers.More...
The Boondock Saints1999-01-22Tired of the crime overrunning the streets of Boston, Irish Catholic twin brothers Conner and Murphy are inspired by their faith to cleanse their hometown of evil with their own brand of zealous vigilante justice. As they hunt down and kill one notorious gangster after another, they become controversial folk heroes in the community. But Paul Smecker, an eccentric FBI agent, is fast closing in on their blood-soaked trail.More...
The Dressmaker2015-10-29In 1950s Australia, beautiful, talented dressmaker Tilly returns to her tiny hometown to right wrongs from her past. As she tries to reconcile with her mother, she starts to fall in love while transforming the fashion of the town.More...
The Power of the Dog2021-10-25A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.More...
Modern Times1936-02-05A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time..More...
Gerald's Game2017-09-29When her husband's sex game goes wrong, Jessie (who is handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house) faces warped visions, dark secrets and a dire choice.More...
The Accountant2016-10-13As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.More...
Rambo III1988-05-24Combat has taken its toll on Rambo, but he's finally begun to find inner peace in a monastery. When Rambo's friend and mentor Col. Trautman asks for his help on a top secret mission to Afghanistan, Rambo declines but must reconsider when Trautman is captured.More...
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey2025-09-17Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.More...
Titanic1997-12-18101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.More...
Pierrot le Fou1965-11-05Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.More...
Similar Movies
Heartbreak Hotel
2006-03-24Elisabeth and Gudrun are two Swedish divorcées, both over 40, who meet when Elisabeth parks her car on a loading zone and is ticketed by Gudrun. Despite this shaky start, a friendship grows between the two. Elizabeth, a gynecologist, is sexy and confident. She leads the shy Gudrun through the dangerous waters of single life. But as they cavort through the dance floors and bars of Stockholm's nightlife they are led to a deeper examination of the relationships with men.Excursion
1966-09-261941 and the war culminates. The wife of a lieutenant and a sergeant fall madly in love. Times and circumstances -military service, marriage, friendship between the two men- forbid this love, but do not negate it. When the lieutenant is injured and taken to hospital, the two lovers, against all odds, dare the only possible way out: he defects, she leaves her husband, and they begin a journey without return towards the border.Not Here to Be Loved
2005-10-12Jean-Claude Delsart, a 50 years-old bailiff, with his worn-out smile and heart, abandoned a long time ago the idea that life could give him pleasures. Until the day, he dares to push the doors of a tango lesson...The Cuckoo
2002-09-12September of 1944, a few days before Finland went out of the Second World War. A chained to a rock Finnish sniper-kamikadze Veikko managed to set himself free. Ivan, a captain of the Soviet Army, arrested by the Front Secret Police 'Smersh', has a narrow escape. They are soldiers of the two enemy armies. A Lapp woman Anni gives a shelter to both of them at her farm. For Anni they are not enemies, but just men.Wag the Dog
1997-12-25During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.Strogoff
1970-10-28A captain in the Czar's army encounters danger and romance while carrying a secret message across 19th-century Russia.G.I. Jane
1997-08-19In response to political pressure from Senator Lillian DeHaven, the U.S. Navy begins a program that would allow for the eventual integration of women into its combat services. The program begins with a single trial candidate, Lieutenant Jordan O'Neil, who is chosen specifically for her femininity. O'Neil enters the grueling Navy SEAL training program under the command of Master Chief John James Urgayle, who unfairly pushes O'Neil until her determination wins his respect.Jesus of Montreal
1989-05-15A group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play in Montreal begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives as the production takes form against the growing opposition of the Catholic church.The Executioner
1963-08-31An undertaker gets married to an old executioner's daughter and, although he doesn't like it, must continue the profession of his father-in-law after his retirement.Lions for Lambs
2007-10-22Three stories told simultaneously in ninety minutes of real time: a Republican Senator who's a presidential hopeful gives an hour-long interview to a skeptical television reporter, detailing a strategy for victory in Afghanistan; two special forces ambushed on an Afghani ridge await rescue as Taliban forces close in; a poli-sci professor at a California college invites a student to re-engage.Elizabeth
1998-09-13The story of the ascension to the throne and the early reign of Queen Elizabeth the First, the endless attempts by her council to marry her off, the Catholic hatred of her and her romance with Lord Robert Dudley.Brothers
2004-08-27A Danish officer, Michael, is sent away to the International Security Assistance Force operation in Afghanistan for three months. His first mission there is to find a young radar technician who had been separated from his squad some days earlier. While on the search, his helicopter is shot down and he is taken as a prisoner of war, but is reported dead to the family.Prychynna. The Story ...
2017-07-20The war separates lovers, but their hearts remain together. The young woman loses her mind, but love gives her strength to wait for her beloved.Exiled in America
1992-11-04A Central American revolutionary is captured and tortured by government forces. He escapes and flees to the US, hiding out in a rural area where he is sheltered by a Christian sanctuary movement. His wife gets a job at a local diner run by one of the town's shadier women, and soon a CIA assassination team shows up, looking for him.The French Revolution...
1989-05-10A history of the French Revolution beginning from the decision of the king to convene the Etats-Generaux in 1789 in order to deal with France's debt problem. Part one spans the event until August 10, 1792 (when the King Louis XVI lost all authority and was imprisoned). Part two carries the story through the end of the terror in 1794.The Wedding
2004-10-13Wojnar is a wealthy man who is marrying off his beautiful daughter Kasia, in a small town in present day Poland. Wojnar had to bribe the groom with a fancy car, since Kasia was pregnant by another man. At the end of the ceremony, the car is delivered by a gangster, who immediately demands the promised money and the deed to land from Kasia's grandfather. Unfortunately grandpa is unwilling to let go of the land. Meanwhile each of the workers at the reception demand to be paid, so Wojnar, who is very reluctant to part with his money, tries to haggle and bribe his way out of all the situations.Snow Falling on Cedar...
1999-12-22In the 1950s, a Japanese-American fisherman is suspected of killing his neighbour at sea. For Ishmael, a local reporter, the trial strikes a deep emotional chord when he finds his ex-lover is linked to the case. As he investigates the killing, he uncovers some startling clues that lead him to a shocking discovery.Malena
2000-03-16During WWII, a teenage boy discovering himself becomes love-stricken by Malèna, a sensual woman living in a small, narrow-minded Italian town.The Adventures of Rob...
1938-05-13Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.Listy miłosne
2001-10-01Thirty-year-old nurse Teresa spends her days caring for elderly, dying people. Janusz, a young man she met at an amusement park, enters the life of this bitter and disillusioned woman. Teresa doesn't have the courage to tell him how she feels, and he also has trouble expressing his emotions. They are helped by Julka, a girl from the neighborhood who likes Teresa. She finds a pile of love letters from the beginning of the century in the trash. By forging Teresa and Janusz's handwriting, she starts a love correspondence between them, rewriting fragments of other people's confessions.