Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot
This is the second installment of a three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny directed by Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein at the request of Josef Stalin. The epic's production was halted before the third part could be filmed due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's incorporation of forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, which was more noticeable in this part than in the first. As it was, this second part was prohibited from being shown until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, as well as a shift in attitude by the Soviet government's subsequent leaders. As Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political adversaries, the Russian boyars, plot his assassination.
Released: 1958-09-01