Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot
This is the second installment of a three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, which was commissioned by Josef Stalin and directed by Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. Producer displeasure with Eisenstein's use of forbidden experimental filmmaking techniques in the material, which was more visible in this part than in the first, caused the epic's production to be halted before the third part could be filmed. As it turned out, the second portion of the film was prevented from being shown until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, as well as a change of heart among the Soviet government's future leaders. As Ivan the Terrible strives to solidify his power by forming a personal army, his political foes, the Russian boyars, plot to murder him in this section.
Released: 1958-09-01