Between Icon and State: Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible

Authors

• Milja Radovic, University of ViennaFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8012-4190

Abstract

Remembering the 80th anniversary of Sergei Eisenstein’s film Иван Грозный (Ivan the Terrible, 1944/1945), it is crucial to re-examine Eisenstein’s work, including his last film that became an unintentional ‘testament’ to cinema. Eisenstein’s mastery has been pivotal for understanding cinema and film language, the way this language operates, constructs and deconstructs and communicates historical realities. This paper focuses on a film that was made in two parts, Part I in 1944 and part II in 1945, to investigate Eisenstein’s approach to the subject of history, nation and religion. The research considers how this master of cinema contemplated intricate ideas and concepts of nationhood and religion in profound and novel ways. The key to understanding Eisenstein’s film lies precisely in film language and cinematic techniques fundamental for the construction of cinematic space and the communication of history that transcends his present.

Recommended Citation

Radovic, Milja (2026) "Between Icon and State: Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible," Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 30: Iss. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol30/iss2/6

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

VolNum

30