Ivan The Terrible

by Sergei Eisenstein, A.E. Ellis (Translator), Rostislav Yurenyev (Contributor)

English translation of Eisenstein's scripts for the first two parts of his magnum opus, and of the scenario for Part III left behind when he died, as originally published in French in 1965.

Includes brief review articles by Yurenyev and Romm, and excerpts from an interview with Josef Stalin conducted by Cherkasov.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was a Soviet film director and film theorist, a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1925), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1928), as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944, 1958). In its 2012 decennial poll, the magazine Sight & Sound named his Battleship Potemkin the 11th greatest movie of all time.

Eisenstein was among the earliest film theorists. He believed that editing could be used for more than just expounding a scene or moment, through a "linkage" of related images. He developed what he called "methods of montage":
1) Metric
2) Rhythmic
3) Tonal
4) Overtonal
5) Intellectual

Eisenstein's articles and books—particularly Film Form and The Film Sense—explain the significance of montage in detail. His writings and films have continued to have a major impact on subsequent filmmakers.

Reviews

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The interesting thing about reviewing screenplays is seeing how much changes between the script and the final project. This book contains the screenplay for three movies, even though only two were ever made. The Soviet Union created the world's first film school as a way of further develop the tools to spread the ideas of the October Revolution. Eisenstein was the USSR's first great film-maker and was crucial to developing modern film theory. This book contains interviews with people who worked on this film and an interesting interview with Stalin himself. Stalin had a luke-warm reception to part 2 of "Ivan" and when Eisenstein died during the making of part 3, had what little film footage that was shot destroyed (Sergei Eisenstein had started sneaking in veiled references to Stalin's regime in parts 2 & 3). Luckily, the script of part 3 survives and gives us a full picture to what the film-maker's grand vision from this WWII-era epic of Soviet film-making.

[Seyed Mohammad Reza Mahdavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

ایوان مخوفI-II، رزمناو پوتمکین
ترجمه قاسم صنعوی
انتشارات روزنه

[Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Va da sé che non si possa recensire una sceneggiatura—peraltro incompleta—alla pari di un romanzo. La sceneggiatura del terzo film, però, rassomiglia più narrativa che tecnica preparatoria alla filmografia: non ci sono le indicazioni serrate presenti nella stesura dei primi due film ormai completi. C'è solo il sentimento generale degli avvenimenti ed il dialogo abortito degli attori, ospitati/nati dalla grande mente fabbricante di Ėjzenštejn. Diventano evidenti le ragioni dietro l'opposizione di Stalin a questo terzo capitolo.

Questi scritti rappresentano non un sostitutivo appagante ma un goccio d'acqua capace di calmare la curiosità verso un film mai interamente prodotto.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of the Classic Film Scripts series

Have the notes and the film script on track. As with most scripts, there are also theatrical directions. It is interspersed with photos from the film.

Watch the first two parts, and read about the third.

I find the film scripts sometimes easier to follow than the film.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of the Classic Film Scripts series

Have the notes and the film script on track. As with most scripts, there are also theatrical directions. It is interspersed with photos from the film.

Watch the first two parts and read about the third.

I find the film scripts sometimes easier to follow than the film.

[alexandra despina]

stalin will be dealt with in hell by me persoanlly for robbing me a patricide scene performed by mikhaol kuznetsov