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Eisenstein: The Sound Years (Ivan the Terrible Parts 1 & 2 / Alexander Nevsky) (The Criterion Collection)
Genre | Action & Adventure |
Format | Multiple Formats, NTSC, Subtitled, Box set, Black & White |
Contributor | Andrei Abrikosov, Nikolai Okhlopkov, M. Filimonova, Amvrosi Buchma, Dmitri Vasilyev, Mikhail Kuznetsov, Pyotr Pavlenko, Aleksandr Mgebrov, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Sergei M. Eisenstein, Serafima Birman, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Pavel Kadochnikov, Mikhail Zharov, Vladimir Balashov, Nikolai Cherkasov See more |
Language | English |
Number Of Discs | 1 |
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Product Description
Product Description
Sergei Eisenstein, long regarded as a pioneer of film art, changed cinematic strategies halfway through his career. Upon returning from Hollywood and Mexico in the late 1930s, he left behind the densely edited style of celebrated silents like Battleship Potemkin and October, turning instead to historical sources, contradictory audiovisuals, and theatrical sets for his grandiose yet subversive sound-era work. This trio of rousing action epics reveals a deeply unsettling portrait of the Soviet Union under Stalin, and provided battle-scene blueprints for filmmaking giants from Laurence Olivier in Henry V to Akira Kurosawa in Seven Samurai.
Amazon.com
A biography of the first czar of Russia was the final movie project of the great Sergei Eisenstein's life. It would be his undoing, as Stalin was not pleased with part II of this epic. But Ivan the Terrible, Part I still stands as a magnificent, rich, and strange achievement. This is a "composed" film to make Hitchcock look slapdash; every frame is arranged with the eye of a painter or choreographer, the mise-en-scène so deliberately artificial that even the actors' bodies become elements of style. (They complained about contorting themselves to fit Eisenstein's designs.) If you don't believe movies can be art, this could be (and has been) dismissed as ludicrous. But Eisenstein's command of light and shadow becomes its own justification, as the fascinating court intrigue plays out in a series of dynamic, eye-filling scenes. This is not a political theorist, but a director drunk on pure cinema.
Part II continues with the struggle for power and the use of secret police, a controversial segment that caused the film to be banned by Stalin in 1946 (the film was not released until 1958). The predominantly black-and-white film features a banquet dance sequence in color. Obviously the two parts must be viewed as a whole to be fully appreciated. Many film historians consider this period in Eisenstein's career less interesting than his silent period because of a sentimental return to archaic forms (characteristic of Soviet society in the '30s and '40s). Perhaps it was just part of his maturity.
Alexander Nevsky (1939), Eisenstein's landmark tale of Russia thwarting the German invasion of the 13th century, was wildly popular and quite intentional, given the prevailing Nazi geopolitical advancement and destruction at the time. It can still be viewed as a masterful use of imagery and music, with the Battle on the Ice sequence as the obvious highlight. Unfortunately, the rest of the film pales in comparison. A great score by Prokofiev was effectively integrated by the Russian filmmaker, but stands on its own merit as well.
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : Unrated (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 8.8 ounces
- Item model number : 2224978
- Director : Dmitri Vasilyev, M. Filimonova, Sergei M. Eisenstein
- Media Format : Multiple Formats, NTSC, Subtitled, Box set, Black & White
- Run time : 4 hours and 52 minutes
- Release date : April 24, 2001
- Actors : Nikolai Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Nikolai Okhlopkov, Pavel Kadochnikov
- Subtitles: : English
- Language : Russian (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
- Studio : CRITERION
- ASIN : B00004XQN5
- Writers : Pyotr Pavlenko, Sergei M. Eisenstein
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #97,699 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #1,089 in Foreign Films (Movies & TV)
- #9,406 in Action & Adventure DVDs
- #16,257 in Drama DVDs
- Customer Reviews:
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Nikolai Cherkasov gives a finely nuanced performance, vividly revealing Ivan's various tortured states of mind. Eisenstein made Ivan--as ruthless as he could be--not only a grandly compelling character, but also one with whom the viewer can readily empathize. To quote Joan Neuberger from the "The History of Ivan" in the supplemental material on CD 1, "Ivan is child and father, rational and mad, progressive and destructive". Other notable performances include those by Serafima Birman as Efrosinia Staritskaya (a kind of "Wicked Witch of the West" transplanted into a medieval Russian context); Pavel Kadochinikov as Efrosinia's effeminate son Vladimir Staritsky; Mikhail Zarov as Malyuta Skuratov, the "Eye of the Czar"; and the powerful Andrei Abrikosov as Philip the Metropolitan (formerly Fyodor Kolychev). Eisenstein wisely chose these actors, as well as others in the film, for the expressive power of their faces. Excellent supplemental material is featured on both CDs of this collection--highlights include an analysis of Eisenstein's visual vocabulary by Yuri Tsivian on CD 2; Joan Neuberger's "History of Ivan" focuses on Eisenstein's melding of the personal and the political in creating the film. The following quote by Neuberger succinctly captures the essence of "Ivan": "Ivan the Terrible is a film structured by dualisms, reversals, and mirrors because it tells a story rooted in contradictions and is filled with divided souls. It features people who are never what they seem to be, and who change shape before our very eyes."
A separate review for "Alexander Nevsky" appears among my other Amazon reviews.
Stephen C. Bird
Author, "To Be to Is to Was"
I know different now.
Alexander Nevsky is a great film, loaded with anti-German propaganda but also compelling action sequences and symbolism. The real treasure, though, is Ivan the Terrible.
If you ever wondered just how many ways a story can be told in a feature film, Ivan the Terrible is the film you need to see. The effect is fascinating: the moods, fears, neuroses and schemes are revealed with shadows, lighting, frescoes on walls, body positions and so much more. The visual scenery is so dense that that everything means something, but at the same time, it is clear enough that you can perceive most of it. Ivan the Terrible is truly Eisenstein at the peak of his powers. It is too bad he never got to finish his masterpiece-what we have is already a film for the ages. I marvel at what could have been if only he'd lived.