Physical Desc
3 videodiscs (293 min.) : sound, black and white with color sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Notes
General Note
Alexander Nevsky originally released as a motion picture in 1938 ; Ivan the Terrible, part I, released as a motion picture in 1945 ; Ivan the Terrible, part II, filmed in 1946 and released as a motion picture in 1958.
General Note
Title from set box.
General Note
Alexander Nevsky originally released as motion picture in 1938. Ivan the Terrible, part 1 was produced and released in 1945. The second part was produced in 1946, but not released till 1958.
General Note
Special features include: (Disc 1) audio essay by film scholar David Bordwell ; Russell Merritt's multimedia essay on the Eisenstein-Prokofiev collaboration ; reconstruction of Eisenstein's unfinished film Bezhin Meadow by the Eisenstein Museum's Naum Kleiman, plus scholar Jay Leyda's photos and documents from the set ; drawings and production stills -- (Disc 2, pt. I) multimedia essay on the history of Ivan the Terrible by Joan Neuberger ; deleted scenes ; drawings and production stills -- (Disc 2, pt. II) multimedia essay on Eisenstein's visual vocabulary by Yuri Tsivian.
Creation/Production Credits
Musical score, Sergei Prokofiev ; director of photography (Alexander Nevsky), Eduard Tissé ; camera (Ivan the Terrible) A. Moskvin, Eduard Tissé.
Participants/Performers
(Alexander Nevsky) Nikolai Cherkasov, N.P. Okhlopkov, A.L. Abrikossov, D.N. Orlov, V.K. Novikov.
Participants/Performers
(Ivan the Terrible) Nikolai Cherkasov, Ludmila Tselikovskaya, Serafima Birman, Piotr Kadochnikov.
Description
"Sergei Eisenstein, long regarded as a pioneer of film art, changed cinematic strageties 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 audio-visuals, and theatrical sets for his grandiose yet subersive sound-era work. This trio of rousing action epics reveals a a deeply unsettling portrait of the Soviet Union under Stalin, and provided battle-scene blueprints for filmmaking giants from Laurance Olivier, in Henry V, to Akira Kurosawa, in Seven Samurai."--Container notes, set box.
Description
"Eisenstein drew on history, Russian folk narratives, and the techniques of Walt Disney to create this broadly painted epic of Russian resilience. This story of Teutonic knights vanquished by Prince Alexander Nevsky's tactical brilliance resonated deeply with a Soviet Union concerned with the rise of Nazi Germany. Widely imitated -- most notably by Laurence Olivier's Battle of Agincourt re-creation for Henry V -- the Battle on the Ice scene remains one of the most famous audio-visual experiments in film history, perfectly blending action with the rousing score of Sergei Prokofiev."--Container notes, Alexander Nevsky.
Description
"Navigating the deadly waters of Stalinist politics, Eisenstein was able to film two parts of his planned trilogy about the troubled 16th-century tsar who united Russia. Visually stunning and powerfully acted, Ivan the Terrible charts the rise to power and descent into terror of this veritable dictator. Though pleased with the first installment, Stalin detected the portrait in the second film -- with its summary executions and secret police -- and promptly banned it."--Container notes, Ivan the Terrible.
System Details
DVD ; Dolby digital mono ; 1.33:1 aspect ratio ; RSDL dual-layer.
Language
In Russian with optional English subtitles.