Sergei Eisenstein, 1944
An Eisenstein film with sound? Mon dieu!
This film draws you in right away; I found the coronation scene a marvel of construction. It exhibits a more subtle kind of montage, one that, like the best of Eisenstein's work, successfully integrates the epic with the personal to form a cohesive whole.
Part I has one major large-scale scene, the siege of Kazan, which is technically proficient and basically well executed, if a little lacking in passion. I had to rewind due to falling asleep, and though I think we can at this point determine that the problem lies with me and not the films, I still think it might say something.
Intrigue and scheming prove to be the main substance and themes of Part I, and you get lots of shots of faces, augmented by beards, exaggerated collars, and furry hats, contorted into deliciously evil expressions. And while the moral simplicity of the plot leads to appealing villainy, and many of the shots astonish with their beauty, ultimately Eisenstein can't sustain them and they get a little tiring by the end.
The film's Ivan is essentially monomaniacal, he doesn't really exist apart from his desire to unite Russia and as a person or ideal for people to betray. Nikolai Cherkasov retains something of the silent film school of acting, granting Ivan some grotesque magnificence; he often repeats the gesture of thrusting his head back and sticking his beard into the air. Eisenstein also plays a lot with Ivan's silhouette and shadow, with aesthetically pleasing results.
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