Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot

1958 · 1h28 · Film

Directed by Sergei Eisenstein

Starring Nikolai Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Pavel Kadochnikov, Mikhail Zharov, Amvrosii Buchma, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mikhail Kuznetsov, Alexander Mgebrov, Andrei Abrikosov, Vladimir Balashov

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This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's introducing forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, more evident in this part than the first part. As it was, this second part was banned from showings until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, and a change of attitude by the subsequent heads of the Soviet government. In this part, as Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate him.

Original title

Иван Грозный. Сказ второй: Боярский заговор

Original language

Russian

Country

Russia

Screenplay

Sergei Eisenstein

Music

Sergei Prokofiev

Cinematography

Eduard Tisse, Andrey Moskvin

Cast

Mikhail Zharov, Amvrosii Buchma, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mikhail Kuznetsov, Alexander Mgebrov, Andrei Abrikosov, Vladimir Balashov

Updated August 14, 2026

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