IVAN THE TERRIBLE
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY SERGEI EISENSTEIN
SCORE SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Ivan the Terrible NIKOLAI CHERKASOV
A black cloud is forming A bloody dawn approaching
The boyars have hatched a treacherous plot
Against the Tsar's authority
Which they are now unleashing
This is a film about a man
who was the first to unite our country in the 16th century
a Prince of Moscow
who created a single and powerful state
from a hodgepodge of divided and self-seeking principalities
a warlord who heralded the military glory of our Motherland
throughout the Orient and the Occident
the first ruler who, in order to reach these great goals
had crowned himself Tsar of All the Russians
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost
the Archduke and Sovereign Ivan Vasilievich
is crowned Tsar of Moscow
anointed of God
Tsar of Moscow
absolute sovereign of all the Russians
The Archduke of Moscow has no right to the title of Tsar!
Europe will never recognize him as Tsar
If he is powerful enough... she will recognize him
They say some of his own subjects aren't too pleased
about the coronation
It's not surprising certain
lordly personages aren't delighted
That's the Grand Duke's cousin, Vladimir Staritsky
with his mother
Ivan's coronation bars their road to the throne of Moscow
But it also seems that Ivan is not without allies
Not the Archduke's
but the Tsar's
For he is now Tsar!
O... Tsar, the Lord's anointed, accept from Him this scepter
Accept it, my son
Accept this orb from God
Accept it, my son
In the name of God... now and forever. Amen
To the Tsar, the Lord's anointed
Ivan Vasilievich
the sovereign of all the Russians
peace, health and salvation
May the Lord save him and keep him!
Long life to the Tsar!
Long life!
Long...
life!
Long life!
Today, for the first time
the Archduke of Moscow wears the crown of Tsar of all the Russians
He thereby puts an end to the pernicious power of the boyars
From now on, all the Russians will form a single State
What? He dares attack the power of the boyars?
But to maintain Russia as a single State
we have to be strong
That is why today I am founding a regular army -
well equipped, militant, permanent
And whoever doesn't fight in this army
will contribute to its upkeep
Pay to cut one's own throat!
Similarly the holy monasteries, with all their wealth
will make their contribution
For their funds pile up without
any advantage to the Russian land
We shall need a strong and undivided State
if we are going to crush those who oppose the unity
of the Russian land
Only a State strong and unified within its frontiers
can defend itself beyond them
Our native land
is no more than a trunk whose limbs have been hacked off
The sources of our waterways and rivers
Volga, Dvina, Volkhov are ours
but the ports at their mouths are under foreign control
Our ancestral lands have been torn from us
That is why, this coronation day we are going to set
about retaking occupied Russian territory
Two Romes have fallen. Moscow is the third
There will be no fourth
for I am absolute master of this third Rome, the Muscovite State
The Pope won't sanction it!
The Emperor won't tolerate it!
Europe will not recognize it!
If he is powerful, everyone will bow down to him
He must not be allowed to become powerful!
The marriage is fixed for St. Simon's Day
We'll arrange a fine wedding for this dictator
Why such privileges for Ivan?
Why is Prince Kurbsky his vassal?
Is not the Kurbsky's nobility
equal to that of Ivan the Muscovite?
Why is Ivan of Moscow master of Russia?
And not Prince Andrei Kurbsky of Yaroslav?
The oak trees, the oaks!
On their boughs, the turtle doves
sit nestling there! Lullay, lullay, lullay
Kiss each other! Kiss!
Why are the bells of Moscow ringing so loudly?
The citizens have gone wild with joy!
Lullay, lullay, lullay
they are cooing to each other
Kiss each other!
Kiss! Kiss!
Lullay, lullay, lullay
Kiss each other!
Why are my best friends so sad today?
Tsar, the people have a saying
that marriage is the end of friendship
And what does Fyodor Kolychev say?
Tsar, you break with tradition
I foresee trouble
I don't dare go against my Tsar
but I can't follow in his footsteps
Let me take holy orders
You prefer the heavenly to the earthly king?
Very well, I shall not stand between you and Him
Go, and pray for us sinners
I only ask one thing of you:
Do not abandon us if misfortune strikes
If I need you, answer my call!
The people are rising
They are shouting against the Glinskys and the Zakharins
burning and pillaging and marching on the palace
demanding to see the Tsar!
Heigh!
To the Tsar!
Moscow is in flames!
Let the people enter
The Tsar!
The Tsar is bewitched!
By the Tsarina's family
The Glinskys, the Zakharins have bewitched him!
Bewitched him!
Justice against the Tsarina's family!
Justice against the Glinskys and Zakharins!
They tear the hearts from the breasts of the people!
They sprinkle our houses with human blood!
The blood bursts into flame and burns the houses
The houses burn!
Moscow is horribly bewitched!
The bells are crashing down from the steeples!
Witchcraft, you say? Bells falling without reason?
A head which believes in witchcraft is itself like a bell
empty!
And can a head fall off... all by itself?
In order to fall, it has to be cut
It is just the same with bells
Those who, without the Tsar's orders cut the ropes
which support the bells, will have their own heads cut off -
this time on the Tsar's orders
The Tsar is pretty sharp
There's no pulling the wool over his eyes
We shall cut off heads ruthlessly
to weed out the treason of the boyars to the very roots
A Tsar can only rule if he holds the reins
A State without reins is as uncontrollable
as a horse without a bridle
But he who ranges himself at the side of the Tsar
will be rewarded... he will rejoice in the Tsar's bounty
and the admiration of our soldiers
Do not dare, Prince, even to dream
I am dedicated to a high cause
A loyal slave of the Tsar of Moscow
Our lands are vast and rich... but disorder is everywhere
But we ourselves will set our house in order
without appealing to outside help
We ourselves! Ourselves!
We will crush treachery!
We will crush it!
And we will help the workers, the shopkeepers, the craftsmen!
We will help them!
Three Tartar envoys from Kazan insist on seeing the Tsar
From Kazan? Tell them to come in at once
Kazan break off her friendship with Moscow
Kazan terminate her alliance
We declare war on Moscow
Kazan... great
Moscow... small
Moscow hasn't a chance
Our great Khan send this present
Russian Tsar want no shame. Russian Tsar end his own life
God is my witness that we did not want war
But the time has passed when insolent foreigners
can invade Muscovite territory with impunity
And this dagger will strike down
whoever raises his hand against Moscow
We will finish with Kazan once and for all
It is we who will go to Kazan
To Kazan!
Listen, Khan!
It is Kazan which is small... and Moscow
which is great
To Kazan!
You will command the first regiment
To Kazan!
Misery
Misery, sorrow, The Tartar Steppes
The unclaimed coins at the end of the battle
will indicate the number of our losses
One... two... heave!
The tunnel can now be packed with gunpowder
At last! After a month of waiting!
It's certainly time to start the attack!
Tunnels and powder: The Tsar's own invention!
You don't think my gunpowder will work?
Horsemanship
Parades... That's all you understand
Shout, 'Surrender Kazan'
Ooooh! Kazan!
It is better that you die by our hands
than by those of the uncircumcised
Such bestiality is madness... It's stupid, revolting!
Even an untrained beast has got more restraint
He has dared to raise his hand against the Tsar!
I wanted to protect you from the arrows
If that was your reason... thank you
The Baltic ambassador was right
Compared to him... I'll never be more than a cur!
Some arrows arrive at just the right moment!
Even deadlier than arrows... is the boyars' hatred
Beware of boyars more than arrows
Your name?
Alexei Basmanov, son of Daniel
I shall not forget the name of one who hates the boyars
Look, Fyodor, look my son!
The Tsar of all the Russians
The Tsar!
To Kazan!
Support Kurbsky!
Now I am truly Tsar
The whole world will acknowledge the Tsar of Moscow
as the true ruler of all the Russians
How is the Tsar of Moscow's health?
The Tsar is very ill
The Tsar fell ill while still on the journey back from Kazan
So now even you acknowledge him as Tsar!
God is just
This Muscovite prince wanted to set himself
above all other princes! And now it's all over!
Well, Prince, always second best?
You loved Anastasia. Ivan took her from you
You fought the battle of Kazan
Yet it is Ivan who is the hero
and who has all the glory, whilst you...
Ah! Prince, your conquest of Kazan has only added
to your misfortune as well as to that of the boyars
As for your head, that won't stay on your shoulders
The Tsar won't forget the arrow at Kazan
And if he should forget
there will always be someone to remind him
The eye of the Tsar
Malyuta!
As long as Ivan lives, Kurbsky will only stagnate
God is good!
They are bringing the Tsar the Holy Sacraments
It is their custom, just before death
Lord, have mercy on my soul
Lord have mercy! Lord have mercy!
To whom will you swear an oath of allegiance?
To Dmitri, the heir apparent
To Ivan's son
And Anastasia!
It's the widow's still-warm bed which fills your thoughts
you want to make her your mistress
Swear allegiance to Vladimir
Money doesn't buy men like you
They have to be offered a kingdom
With Vladimir on the throne it is you who will act as regent
He is worse than a child
He is moronic
You will be absolute master!
Swear allegiance to Vladimir
The Tsar is calling
The end is near
I bid the world farewell
Swear allegiance to my legitimate heir... Dmitri
Swear loyalty to my son
Swear allegiance to my son!
Only an undivided, legitimate throne will save Moscow
from her enemies and internecine conflict
without which the Tartars will again violate our frontiers
the Poles and the Livonians encroach
I don't entreat you for me or my son
but for the unity of the Motherland!
Palitsky!
Ivan!
Turuntai-Pronsky!
Kolychev the Wise! Daniel Bogdany!
You - give an example
Kolychev the Unconquerable, why don't you speak?
Kurletov!
Funikov!
You will be cursed forever
Traitors to the Russian Earth
All of you will be cursed... cursed for all eternity!
Only Dmitri... his son... can save Russia
Once you have rejected undivided authority
no matter how strong, courageous, intelligent you may be
your government will be directionless
Your feuds and hatreds will deliver you up to the foreigner
The boyars will never submit to the offspring
of the Prince of Moscow
Power must pass to a Tsar who will share it with the boyars
and who will serve not some unknown Russian State
but the noble boyars
Swear allegiance to the Tsar Vladimir!
Long live the Tsar of the boyars!
Which road shall I travel?
The one which leads to the throne
or the one which leads to marriage?
Who should I choose? Anastasia? Efrosinia?
Anastasia, if you will be mine
I will protect you from the boyars
If you will be mine I will raise you to the throne
If you will be mine, we will rule Russia together!
Without you my life has no meaning
Nor death either
With you, the throne...
or the scaffold it's all the same!
My Tsarina of Moscow!
Prince, one does not bury a man before he is dead
You mean Ivan isn't dead?
God will be your judge!
Ivan is not dead!
If Ivan is not dead... Kurbsky can no longer live
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost
I swear by the Holy Writ to serve faithfully
the heir to the throne, the legitimate Tsar of Moscow
Dmitri Ivanovich
In evidence of which, I kiss the cross
The Holy Sacrament has cured me!
You... have always been close to the Tsar
I shall raise you higher still
for at the hour of the supreme test
you alone remained faithful
I shall invest you with a sacred mission
We have consolidated the East
you will lead the Russian forces to the West... to the Baltic!
Flying like an arrow?
Well, fly!
And to defend our southern borders against the Crimean Khan
I appoint Alexei Basmanov
Who? Who is he?
The Tsar trusts no one
He sends away the boyars who are closest to him
He surrounds himself with nobodies
Like these low-born Basmanovs
and takes them into his confidence
I know
He strips us of our hereditary possessions
and distributes them to absolutely anyone
He persecutes the boyars
Shchenyatov has been arrested!
Kurletov has been arrested!
I know
I'm going to escape
I dare not
I'm frightened... I shall flee to Livonia
Ivan Ivanovich, aren't you ashamed?
The Archbishop has gone to see the Tsar
He'll get us pardoned
The Tsar pardons no one
He has stripped me, his confessor... of everything
He's sending me from Moscow to Novgorod
I'm going to get away!
For God's sake fly
Let cowards run away!
Those who stay will fight!
Whilst the Tsar's best friend
Kurbsky is away... we must take him firmly in hand
To start with we must curb Ivan's power
We must oppose his military campaigns
refuse the money for the war in the Baltic provinces
But above all else
we must separate Anastasia from Ivan
It is I who will take charge of that
I need the maritime towns, the Baltic towns
Riga... Revel
I need Narva
Once again the Rigans and the Hanseatics
have intercepted the English ships
Once again they deprive me of lead, of sulphur
and my artillery of trained gunners!
I shall use force to stop
these treacherous neighbors from throttling our commerce
Not only the Germans are stumbling-blocks
to our ambitions, but also you boyars!
In opposing my campaigns in the Baltic
you are worse than the Germans and the Livonians
You are Russia's worst enemies
You see, Nepeya, just why I have to bring about this alliance
Take this present to the gracious
Queen Elizabeth of England
You will demonstrate to her with these pieces
just how the English boats can go around the Baltic
to reach us by the White Sea
in the teeth of the Germans and Livonians
And remind her that Tsar Ivan in Moscow
is solely in charge of negotiations
That he orders and controls all commerce
He accords privileges to whosoever pleases him
and whosoever does not please him will never enter Moscow
On the other hand, his friends will have the route to the East
completely open
Are you troubled, Tsar Ivan?
I am alone. There is no one I can trust
Kurbsky is far away... fighting in the Baltic States
Fyodor Kolychev is even further away:
He is praying in the Solovyets monastery
I have only you
It's from Ryazan!
It's from Basmanov!
Again the boyars! They have disobeyed my orders again!
They betray Russia. They are preventing Basmanov and
the people from defending Ryazan
They are ready to surrender the city
to the Khan of the Crimea
Be firm!
I will be. So much the worse for the boyars!
I shall confiscate all their estates
The only concessions I will make
will be for services to the State
But those who dishonor themselves on the battlefield
will lose everything!
You go too far, Tsar Ivan!
Bad news
The Russian troops at Revel have been beaten
Kurbsky is beaten
Kurbsky?
Could he have betrayed us?
God be my salvation
for the waters are come in unto my soul
I sink beneath the deep waters
where nothing can save me
I am in the depths of the flood
and its current bears me away
I no longer have the strength to groan
My tongue is dry, my eyes no longer see
Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Shuisky has fled to Livonia
Prince Ivan Vasilievich Sheremetyev
was captured in flight. Boyar Tugoi Luk-Suzdalsky has fled
to Livonia
Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs on my head
Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky has fled
Prince Ivan Ivanovich Turuntai- Pronsky has been recaptured
arrested and brought to Moscow
Have I done wrong?
Is it God's punishment?
I have become a stranger unto my brethren
and without significance to the sons of my own mother
Am I right in my heavy struggle?
Great Sovereign, Kurbsky has fled to King Sigismund
What? My friend, Kurbsky?
What have I done to him?
What more could he have wanted?
Or could it be... that he coveted my crown?
Taking advantage of the defeat in the Baltic States
the boyars are rousing the people against you
Shame has eaten into my heart and I am full of weariness
I have looked for mercy... but it has not been granted me
I have sought consolation but without finding it
You lie!
The Tsar of Moscow has not yet been brought to heel!
You are few!
Send for my last and only remaining faithful friend
Fyodor Kolychev
He is praying for us in the far-off Solovyets monastery
Tsar, do not trust Boyar Kolychev
Surround yourself with new men
who have sprung from the people and who owe you everything
With them, forge about you an iron ring
a circle of spears pointing towards the enemy
Choose men who will renounce everything
who will deny father and mother to serve only the Tsar
and the dictates of his will
The first link of the iron ring will be my son
To these noble ends I donate my only son!
With these men alone you will be able to retain power
break the boyars
You are right, Alyoshka! I shall bind myself about with iron
We will form a brotherhood of iron
Outside the brotherhood we will trust no one
I shall be an iron leader
I shall leave Moscow and withdraw
to the hamlet of Alexandrov!
You will take Moscow by assault!
You will return to Moscow as a conqueror
No, it is not as a soldier I will return
not as a soldier
but summoned by the entire populace
Don't rely on the people
Don't listen to beggars... don't trust vagabonds
You are getting above yourself, cur!
You presume to instruct the Tsar!
By the people's summons... I shall gain limitless power
It will be like a new coronation
enabling me relentlessly to consummate my great task!
What do you say?
You are right!
The call of the people will express God's will
I shall accept the sword of vengeance from God's hand
I shall accomplish great things
Two Romes have fallen. Moscow is the third
She will stand firm, for there will never be a fourth!
'These princes and boyars have amassed great wealth
'but not a thought do they spare for the Tsar
'or the State, and they are even indifferent to religion
'since they refuse to defend themselves against our enemies
'the Tartars, the Livonians, the Germans
'and oppress the people
'This is why the Tsar, Sovereign and Grand Duke
'is abandoning the State
'and Moscow, the capital
'But the Tsar bears no malice against the citizens
'shopkeepers and orthodox Christians of Moscow
'and in no way holds them responsible'
As for those good Christians
who don't side with the boyar princes
or the well-known families, and are of humble origin
and ready to serve the Tsar faithfully
the Tsar summons them to join his bodyguard
and to swear allegiance to him
at the hamlet of Alexandrov
Are you waiting for a message from Moscow?
'Have pity O Lord'
The first English boats laden with consignments
of arms and munitions
have just entered the White Sea
We have outwitted you, Germans and Livonians!
The day is coming when you will drop to your knees
before the authority of Moscow
Have mercy, O Lord!
O return! O return!
O return!
The father of us all!
Get the horses saddled, we are going back to Moscow
to work for the future of the Great Russian State
End of part one
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