Event

IVAN THE TERRIBLE

Monday, June 1
PART ONE and PART TWO beginning at 7pm

$9 Members / $12 Public
Active Membership Will Be Checked

Additional Screening Sunday, May 31 at 1pm, featuring Russian Lunch during intermission

A newly struck print from Russia of what has been called one of the greatest visual masterpieces cinema ever produced. Sergei Eisensteins vast historical fresco was to be his last film, and he poured everything into it; to call it eye-filling doesnt begin to describe its profusion. In the first part, Ivan is crowned, but is forced to fight the boyars (nobles), who have conspired to dethrone him and poison his wife. In the second part, Ivan has been returned to power, ruthlessly determined to destroy the boyars. He faces a second conspiracy, that of his power-hungry aunt, who is intent on assassinating him so that her insane son can ascend the throne. Operatic, expressionistic, designed to the hilt with gilt, brocade and jewels, featuring a lavish Sergei Prokofiev score and brilliantly edited for maximum excitement, Ivan the Terrible has been seen by many (including Stalin who banned the second part) as a thinly disguised commentary on Stalinist paranoia and tyranny.

Part 1: 1944, 96 min.
Part 2: 1958, 90 min.
In Russian with English subtitles