Ivan the Terrible (1945 film)

Ivan the Terrible (Иван Грозный) is a two-part Soviet epic historical drama film written and directed by Sergei Eisenstein. A biopic starring Nikolay Cherkasov as Ivan IV of Russia, it was Eisenstein's final film, commissioned by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Part I was released in 1945, and received a Stalin Prize. Part II, although it finished production in 1946, was not released until 1958, as it was banned on the order of Stalin, who intensely disliked the depiction of Ivan therein. Eisenstein had developed the scenario to require a third part to finish the story, but with the banning of Part II, filming of Part III was stopped. Eisenstein died in 1948, putting production of the film to an end.

Plot


In the prologue, Ivan's mother, Elena Glinskaya, and her lover are murdered by the boyars. Later Ivan is enthroned as the grand prince of Moscow. The prologue was removed by Soviet censors; however, the scenes of Ivan's childhood from the prologue were inserted into part 2 as flashbacks.

Part I
In 1547, 17-year-old Ivan IV is coronated as the tsar of all Russia, amid animosity from the boyars and silent jealousy from his cousin, the child-like Vladimir Staritsky and Vladimir's mother and Ivan's aunt, Yefrosinya Staritskaya. Ivan makes a speech proclaiming his intent to unite and protect Russia against the foreign armies outside her borders and the enemies within – a reference to the boyars, who are already discontented with his coronation. A Livonian ambassador asks Prince Andrei Kurbsky why Ivan is more worthy to rule than Kurbsky is, sowing the seeds of doubt into his heart. Shortly after, Ivan marries Anastasia Romanovna. Fyodor Kolychov, a close friend of Ivan, informs Ivan that he cannot support Ivan in his mission against the boyars and receives Ivan's permission to retire to monastic life. Kurbsky, who is in love with Anastasia, attempts to resume his romance with her, but she rejects his advances.

The marriage feast is interrupted by news of the burning of several boyar palaces, carried into the tsar's palace by a mob of common people, led by Malyuta Skuratov and the holy fool Nikola. The two complain that the tsar is being led astray by the tsarina's family. Ivan calms the crowd, but is interrupted by envoys from the khanate of Kazan, who announce that Kazan has declared war against Muscovy and send him a ceremonial knife with the suggestion that he do himself a favor by using it to commit suicide. Ivan immediately declares war against Kazan.

The next scene shows the 1552 siege of Kazan, in which Ivan's army digs saps underneath the city and fills them with gunpowder. Kurbsky, nominally in command, is reprimanded by Ivan for senseless brutality against their Tatar prisoners, causing his resentment against Ivan to grow. The city of Kazan falls to the Russian army. Here, Ivan meets Alexei Basmanov, a commoner who despises the boyars, for the first time. His son, Fyodor, is awestruck by the tsar.

During his return from Kazan, Ivan falls seriously ill. The last rites are administered to him. Staritskaya reminds Kurbsky of how Ivan betrayed him by marrying the woman he loves. She tells Kurbsky to swear allegiance to Vladimir, promising him rule over Moscow, as Vladimir is not fit to rule on his own. Ivan sends for the boyars and orders them to swear allegiance to his son, the infant Dmitri, reminding them of the need for a single ruler to keep Russia united. They demur, with Yefrosinya Staritskaya openly urging the others to swear allegiance to her son, Vladimir, instead. Emotionally overwrought, Ivan collapses and is thought dead. The boyars, celebrating, all begin to swear allegiance to Vladimir, the "boyar tsar" they have hoped for. However, when the tsarina hints that Ivan is not yet dead, Kurbsky hurriedly swears his allegiance to Dmitri. Ivan unexpectedly grows well, much to the disappointment of the boyars. As a reward for his loyalty, Kurbsky is sent to the western border of the kingdom to defend against the Livonians and Poles. Alexei Basmanov is sent to the south to take care of the Crimean border. The fact that Ivan promotes a commoner over them creates more discontent amongst the boyars.

The boyars plot against Ivan. Pimen, who has been removed from the position of Metropolitan and is now Archbishop, joins them in their scheming. Staritskaya plans to kill Anastasia. Just as the royal couple receive word that Kurbsky has surrendered to the Livonians, she slips a goblet of poisoned wine into the room and listens from behind a wall. The news shocks the tsarina, who is already ill. Ivan, looking around for a drink to calm her, takes the wine and gives it to her, causing her death.

Ivan questions his own justifications and ability to rule, wondering if his wife's death and Kurbsky's final defection to King Sigismund of Poland is God's punishment on him. He sends for his old friend, Kolychov, the monk. Malyuta warns him not to trust Kolychov, and Alexei Basmanov suggest that Ivan instead surround himself with men he can really trust – common people, "iron men", the oprichniki. He offers his own son, Fyodor, in service to Ivan. Ivan accepts, and sets about recouping his losses. He abdicates and leaves Moscow for Alexandrova Sloboda in 1564, waiting until the people beg him to return, saying that he would then rule with absolute power by the will of the people.

Part II
In 1565, Kurbsky swears allegiance to King Sigismund of Poland. Sigismund promises to make Kurbsky ruler of Ivan's territories, once he exploits the tsar's absence by conquering them. The plan is foiled when an emissary announces that Ivan has returned to Moscow.

His friend, Kolychov, arrives, now the monk Philip; after a heated debate, Philip agrees to become metropolitan of Moscow, as long as Ivan gives him the right to intercede for condemned men. This is mutually agreed upon, but as soon as it is settled, Ivan finds a way around this: he has Malyuta execute the condemned men quickly, before Philip can use his right. In this way he has three of Philip's kinsmen executed.

A flashback shows Ivan as a child, witnessing his mother's death by poisoning, then as a young teenager standing up to the condescension of the boyars, who want to rule. After the eldest boyar insults his mother and attempts to strike Ivan, he has him arrested, and declares that he will rule alone, as Tsar.

Fyodor Basmanov, the first of the oprichniki, suggests to the tsar that his wife was poisoned, and both suspect Staritskaya of poisoning the cup of wine. Ivan orders Fyodor to keep his silence until they are certain beyond doubt of her guilt.

Philip, angered by Ivan's execution of his kinsmen, allies himself with the boyars. He vows to block Ivan's abuse of power, and confronts him in the cathedral while a miracle play about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is presented. As the argument heats up, a small child, carried on the boyars’ shoulders next to Staritskaya, confuses Ivan for Nebuchadnezzar. The child calls out, asking whether this is the "terrible heathen king". Ivan, angry, proclaims that he will be exactly what his enemies call him – terrible.

Staritskaya announces to the boyars that Ivan has arrested Philip, and will likely execute him. Having lost one of their most powerful allies, the boyars, along with the archbishop Pimen, now decide that their only option is to assassinate Ivan. The novice Pyotr is selected to carry out the assassination. Malyuta invites Vladimir to a banquet with the tsar and the oprichniki. Ivan sends his aunt an empty wine goblet, hinting to her that he is aware of her role in Anastasia's death.

At the banquet, Ivan gets Vladimir drunk while the oprichniki sing and dance around them. Vladimir mentions that there is a plot to kill Ivan, and that he is to replace Ivan as tsar. Fyodor Basmanov notices the assassin leaving and signals to Ivan who, feigning surprise at Vladimir's revelation, suggests Vladimir try being tsar. He has the oprichniki bring the throne, orb, sceptre, crown and royal robes, and they all bow down to Vladimir. Then he tells Vladimir to lead them to the cathedral in prayer, as a tsar should lead. Hesitantly, Vladimir does.

In the cathedral, the assassin runs up, stabs the mock tsar and is immediately seized by Fyodor and Malyuta. Staritskaya arrives, jubilant at the apparent death of Ivan, until she sees him alive; she realizes that Vladimir has been killed. Ivan orders the two to release the assassin, and thanks him for killing not only "a fool", but "the tsar's worst enemy". He leaves Staritskaya, who has gone insane over her son's death, in the cathedral.

Ivan proclaims to his oprichniki that all his enemies within Moscow are vanquished, therefore, he can now turn his attention to those outside.

Cast

 * Nikolay Cherkasov as Ivan the Terrible
 * Lyudmila Tselikovskaya as Anastasia Romanovna, Ivan's wife
 * Serafima Birman as Yefrosinya Staritskaya, Ivan's aunt
 * Pavel Kadochnikov as Vladimir Staritsky, Staritskaya's son and Ivan's cousin
 * Mikhail Zharov as Malyuta Skuratov
 * Amvrosy Buchma as Alexei Basmanov, head of Ivan's oprichnina
 * Mikhail Kuznetsov as Fyodor Basmanov, Alexei Basmanov's son
 * Mikhail Nazvanov as Prince Andrei Kurbsky
 * Andrei Abrikosov as Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow
 * Aleksandr Mgebrov as Pimen, Metropolitan of Moscow, later Archbishop of Novgorod
 * Maxim Mikhailov as the archdeacon
 * Vsevolod Pudovkin as Nikola, a holy fool
 * Pavel Massalsky as Sigismund II Augustus
 * Vladimir Balashov as Pyotr Volynets, the assassin
 * Oleg Zhakov as Heinrich von Staden
 * Erik Pyryev as young Ivan

Pre-production
In May 1940, Eisenstein sent Ivan Bolshakov a letter about two films that he planned to write a scenario for, together with Lev Sheinin. The first option was about Laurence of Arabia, and the other was about the Beilis affair. Additionally, Eisenstein had in mind a film about Pushkin. Bolshakov did not respond to this letter, so in December of the same year, Eisenstein and Sheinin wrote Stalin a letter expanding on their ideas for the Beilis film. In January 1941, Eisenstein met with Andrei Zhdanov, who rejected all of Eisenstein's previous ideas. Zhdanov instead commissioned on Stalin's behalf a film about Ivan the Terrible. Stalin admired Ivan the Terrible, as he viewed Ivan as the same kind of brilliant, decisive, successful leader that he considered himself to be. He was interested in rehabilitating Ivan's image to a more positive image, particularly to one of a powerful state builder, and promoted the image of Ivan IV as the founder of the modern Russian state.

Eisenstein began research on the film in early 1941. Among his sources were Heinrich von Staden's and Andrei Kurbsky's writings about their lives in Ivan's court and his reign, and Ivan's correspondence with Kurbsky. Additionally, Eisenstein read the biography of Ivan by Robert Wipper and the writings of historians Sergei Solovyov, Vasily Klyuchevsky, Alexander Pypin, and Igor Grabar. Eisenstein filled over a hundred notebooks with his ideas for the film. He read extensively, not just about Ivan the Terrible and 16th-century Russia but in general about theory; the writings of Freud, Vissarion Belinsky, John Masefield, and Shakespeare also influenced the creation of the film.

Eisenstein completed the first draft of the screenplay in May 1941. After the invasion of the USSR in June 1941, Eisenstein was evacuated to Alma-Ata in October; he completed the screenplay in December. Production on the film was delayed to April 1943. The scenario of Ivan the Terrible had been accepted by Mosfilm in the form of two full-length films. Eisenstein considered splitting the screenplay into three parts and discussed this with Grigori Alexandrov, who was against this; ultimately, he ignored Alexandrov's advice and changed the film from two parts to three. He received permission to create a third part in 1944.

Production of the film
Eisenstein had worked almost exclusively with Eduard Tisse for most of his features, and invited Tisse to work on the film. In 1942, Eisenstein became friends with Andrei Moskvin, and developed a closer relationship with Moskvin than he had with Tisse. However, he did not want to fire Tisse, as he was concerned that Tisse could be arrested for his "Germanic" name. Cinematography was divided between the two - Tisse shot the exteriors, and Moskvin, who became director of photography, filmed all interior scenes. The color sequences of Part Two were also filmed by Moskvin.

The score for the films was composed by Sergei Prokofiev, with whom Eisenstein had collaborated on Alexander Nevsky. Eisenstein remarked that Prokofiev was able to grasp the emotional mood, rhythm and structure of a scene immediately and have the score ready the next day. Prokofiev incorporated music from an unrealized production of an adaptation of Boris Godunov into the score. He did not finish writing the score of Part I until August 1944. In January of 1945, he suffered a concussion, and was too ill to work; in spite of Prokofiev's request that Eisenstein instead work with Gavriil Popov, Eisenstein insisted on working with Prokofiev. Prokofiev recovered by October of that year and was able to complete the score for Part II. Rostislav Zakharov was hired as choreographer for the film.

One of the difficulties was making Cherkasov look convincingly both older and younger than he was. In the beginning of Part I, the 39-year-old Cherkasov had to portray a 17-year-old Ivan; additionally, Ivan had to age throughout the film, culminating in the portrayal of a 53-year-old Ivan by the end of Part II. 14 wigs were made for this purpose. For the portrayal of 17-year-old Ivan, makeup artist Vasily Goriunov used adhesive to glue back the flesh on Cherkasov's face. This also had the effect of limiting Cherkasov's ability to move his face. The actor disliked this solution, saying that the makeup made him look not like a 17-year-old, but like a fetus.

The entire production was shot in Kazakhstan at Mosfilm's substantial production facility in Alma Ata. Filming was done at night, since electricity was limited during the day. Although most of the film was shot in black and white, there are color sequences in the second part. In July 1944, production of the film was transferred to Moscow.

Casting
Casting for the film began in spring of 1942. Eisenstein invited Cherkasov, who had previously performed the title role in Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky, to play Ivan IV. Zharov, who had wanted to perform the role of Kurbsky, was instead offered the role of Malyuta. Erik Pyryev, son of director Ivan Pyryev, performed the role of the young Ivan.

Eisenstein wanted Vsevolod Pudovkin to play Pimen, but Pudovkin was filming In the Name of the Fatherland and was unavailable at the time; then he suffered a heart attack and could not accept the role. He ultimately played the holy fool Nikola. Goriunov stated that he was the one to suggest actor Aleksandr Mgrebov for the role. Mgrebov, unknown to Eisenstein, was seriously ill with tuberculosis. When Eisenstein learned about Mgrebov's illness, he organized the treatment of Mgrebov, who grew well enough to play Pimen. Mgrebov later stated that Eisenstein's intervention saved his life. According to Kuznetsov, Eisenstein noticed him after his performance in Mashenka, and already began to consider him for the role of Fyodor Basmanov. After he evacuated to Alma-Ata, Eisenstein offered him the role. Kadochnikov stated that Eisenstein had wanted Nikolay Okhlopkov to play the role of Vladimir Staritsky, however, Okhlopkov by this time was too old for the role. Therefore, Kadochnikov was invited to play Vladimir. He was also meant to play Evstafy, the younger brother of Philip II, in the unrealized third part.

The actresses for Anastasia and Staritskaya were found 6 months after filming began. The role of the tsarina first was offered to ballerina Galina Ulanova, but Ulanova chose to prioritize her dancing career instead and rejected the role. Ultimately, Tselikovskaya, who was Zharov's wife, was cast as the tsarina. Eisenstein wanted to cast Faina Ranevskaya as Staritskaya, but Ivan Bolshakov, who had final say on casting choice, insisted that Ranevskaya, as a Jewish actress, was an unsuitable choice to play the boyarina. The role then went to Birman.

Screenings and release
Ivan The Terrible, Part I was screened by the Mosfilm Artistic Council in October 1944. The members of the council were disappointed with the film. The members criticized the characterization of Ivan IV, Malyuta Skuratov, and the oprichnina. As a result, they demanded the removal of the prologue, more emphasis on Ivan's accompishments as Tsar, and modification of the presentation of the oprichniki, to make them less sinister. The artistic merits of the film were also criticized. Part I was screened for Stalin in December of that year, and premiered in Moscow on 20 January 1945. The same year, it was nominated for the Stalin Prize. In spite of the objections of the members of the Stalin Prize committee, the film ultimately received the prize. For their work on Part I, Eisenstein, Cherkasov, Prokofiev, Moskvin, and Tisse were each awarded a Stalin Prize in 1946.

The second film, Ivan The Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot, finished filming at Mosfilm in 1946. The unshown film received heavy criticism from the Central Committee of the Communist Party, calling the picture "anti-historical". Ivan Pyryev compared the depiction of Ivan and the oprichnina to fascists and stated that the portrayal of Ivan was completely unsympathetic. In spite of this, Eisenstein insisted on screening Part II for Stalin, who called it a "nightmare". Stalin criticized Eisenstein's Ivan as being "a weak-willed Hamlet", and the oprichnina as being too similar to the Ku Klux Klan. After meeting with Stalin in 1947, Eisenstein refused to further revise Part II or to begin work on Part III. A year later, Eisenstein died. Part II was released in 1958.

The conductor of the score was Abram Stasevich. After the release of the films, he released an oratorio adaptation of the music of the film. A recording of the oratorio by Neeme Järvi with Chandos Records was released in 1991.

Part III
A third film, which began production in 1946, was halted when the decision was made not to release the second film. After Eisenstein's death in 1948, all footage from the film was confiscated, and it was rumored to have been destroyed (though some stills and a few brief shots still exist today).



The plot of Part III was to include Ivan's growing paranoia of his followers, his execution of the Basmanovs, and a battle against Livonian troops which Ivan wins, and thus gains access to the sea for his people. Eisenstein contemplated several endings for Part III - one ending had the tsar walking triumphantly toward the sea, another had the aged tsar contemplating the future of Russia, a third ending had the tsar dying alone and regretful after his murder of his son, and a fourth ending would have had the tsar seeing a prophetic vision of Peter the Great conquering the Baltic Sea, having himself lost the sea just weeks after conquering it.

Analysis
Eisenstein wrote about Ivan The Terrible’s tone, saying that he wished chiefly to convey a sense of majesty. To achieve this effect, the actors spoke in measured tones, frequently accompanied by Prokofiev's solemn music, Ivan the Terrible, op. 116. Nikolai Cherkasov's style of acting was realistic, but highly stylised and intense. He was reported to have been in a state of nervous exhaustion when the filming of the second part of Ivan the Terrible was completed.

Historian Joan Neuberger describes Ivan the Terrible as a "personal drama", compared to the "collective drama" of Battleship Potemkin or the "patriotic drama" of Alexander Nevsky.

Power
Eisenstein wrote in 1941 that his depiction of Ivan the Terrible was not intended to "whitewash him or to turn Ivan the Terrible into Ivan the Sweet", but rather to show "Ivan in the whole range of his activity and the struggle for the state of Muscovy." Neuberger argues that Eisenstein had no intention to glorify Ivan the Terrible, as he chose to focus on the oprichnina and the bloodiest years of Ivan's reign and completely excludes his positive reforms from the film. He desired to show how good and evil interacted with one another within the tsar; thus, Ivan is not good at one point and evil at another point, rather, good and evil coexist within him and influence his actions at all times.

Historicity
Eisenstein took liberties with historical fact in order to develop his narrative: he replaced the historical figures Metropolitan Macarius and Sylvester with the historical figures of Metropolitan Philip and Pimen of Novgorod, who oppose the tsar in the film; additionally, he invented a romance between Prince Kurbsky (whom he depicted as Ivan's childhood friend) and Anastasia in order to create personal strife for Ivan. Additionally, Pimen of Novgorod was never Metropolitan of Moscow, the character of the holy fool Nikola is entirely fictional, and there is no historical evidence that Yefrosinya Staritskaya poisoned Anastasia Romanovna.

The historical basis of Vladimir's death can be traced to the execution of a certain boyar, Ivan Fyodorov, of the Chelyadnin family. According to legend, Ivan IV invited Fyodorov to sit on the royal throne, dressed in royal robes; he bowed to Fyodorov, then stabbed him in the heart. The historical Vladimir Staritsky was poisoned.

Religion
The Orthodox Church in Ivan the Terrible is depicted as a power that supports tradition and the interest of the boyars. Historian Charles J. Halperin argues that the depiction of religion in Ivan the Terrible is explicitly negative, as all characters associated with the Russian Orthodox Church are negatively characterized. Halperin argues that the portrayal of Philip, who was canonized by the Orthodox Church, as a scheming boyar, is particularly defamatory.

Allusions
Eisenstein tasked the makeup artist, Vasily Goriunov, with the task of making Ivan resemble at different points of the film Nebuchadnezzar, Judas, Uriel Acosta, Mephistopheles, and Jesus Christ. In the film, Ivan watches a play about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The biblical story ends with an angel saving the three boys from the flames, and Nebuchadnezzar recognizing his folly and repenting. In the film, the model of the angel falls into the flames, and Ivan does not repent or change.

Allusions to Renaissance-era art can be found in the film. Tsivian writes that Ivan in the scene of his near-death resembles Hans Holbein's Dead Christ. In another scene, Anastasia holds Ivan's foot in a way remniscent of Mary Magdalene mourning Christ. Clark writes that visually, Fyodor Basmanov resembles Botticelli's portrait of Giuliano de Medici, insinuating the idea that like the Medici family, the oprichnina rules by violence rather than by office (in contrast to the boyars).

According to Viktor Shklovsky, Eisenstein took inspiration from the works of Victor Hugo when writing the death of Vladimir Staritsky. Specifically, Vladimir's death most closely resembles the ending of Rigoletto, based on Hugo's Le roi s'amuse: the court jester wishes to kill the king, but by accident kills his own child, who is dressed as the king. Vladimir's death may also mirror a scene from Battleship Potemkin where a mother holds her dead son. In a diary entry from 1947, Eisenstein wrote that the relationship between Ivan and Vladimir mirrors the one between Rogozhin and Prince Myshkin from Dostoevsky's The Idiot. Khitrova argues that the film makes an allusion to Swan Lake: in the first part of the film, white swans appear at the wedding feast, and are replaced by black swans in the second part. Vladimir, like Prince Siegfried, is seduced by a black swan, and like Prince Siegfried, meets a fatal end.

Symbolism
Certain symbols are constantly repeated within the film. Notable examples include the single eye which refers to truth. Other symbols include icons, which appear in nearly every scene of the film. The icons are used to represent the characters themselves - thus, Pimen appears next to a fresco of the Angel of Death, Staritskaya appears next to frescoes of demons, and Vladimir is killed in front of a fresco of the Forty Martyrs.

Neuberger interprets the film as having a homoerotic subtext. In her interpretation, most of the male characters of the film show signs of homoerotic attraction. Eisenstein wrote in his production notes that King Sigismund's courtiers were "effeminate" and that Fyodor "must love" Ivan, and in one of the final scenes of the film, Fyodor Basmanov dances in drag, dressed in a parody of Anastasia's clothing. Additionally, Eisenstein in his notes wrote one scene implying Fyodor Basmanov's homosexuality - Basmanov, while pillaging a boyar estate, pursues a young woman for her earrings; his father later discovers the earrings and punches him. This scene was never filmed. In his notes for the film, Eisenstein describes Fyodor's role in the film as the replacement of Anastasia, or an ersatz version of Anastasia; in Gillespie's view, Fyodor specifically replaces Anastasia as Ivan's "partner".

Shadows are also used, to visually explain a character's power and control over other characters. This is especially evident in the throne room scene in Part I, when Ivan's shadow dominates the globe, with all those around him referring to his political power.

Animals are used to represent certain characters. Ivan's animal is a bird of prey; his movements are bird-like, and his makeup emphasizes an aquiline appearance. In one scene, his staff casts the shadow of a double-headed eagle onto his face. Malyuta Skuratov uses dog-related metaphors to describe himself; he represents the tsar's loyal dog. Swans appear twice in the film: in the beginning, white swans appear at the wedding feast, representing the "white swan" Anastasia; in the end, black swans appear at the dance of the oprichniki; and Anastasia has been replaced by Fyodor.

Certain characters wear colours to refer to their roles in the narrative. Malyuta Skuratov, after his promotion to role of the tsar's spy, is dressed in a new black robe; when he first carries out executions, he is dressed in gold-stitched brocade. In the view of Neuberger, this symbolizes the transformation of the oprichnina into a neofeudal force. Pimen, the antagonistic Metropolitan, is initially dressed all in white, to symbolize death. In Eisenstein's sketches, Pimen is given a skull-like quality, and one scene had him standing opposite of a fresco of the white horseman of Death.

The young male supporters of Ivan are all clean-shaven, meanwhile, the boyars, along with the older Malyuta and Alexei Basmanov, all have beards. Kolychov, at Ivan's coronation, shows a small beard. Towards the end of the film, Vladimir Staritsky begins to show a small beard. According to Gillespie, this is a sign that Vladimir is associated with the old order, and will inevitably be destroyed alongside the boyars, while Kolychov's conflict with Ivan was hinted at since his coronation. Additionally, Pyotr, who intended to kill Ivan, was meant to join Ivan in the third part of the film; Pyotr is beardless.

Reception
The film has been polarizing amongst viewers. It has been noted for its complexity. According to Yuri Tsivian, it has been called "the most complex movie ever made".

The first part was received ambivalently in the USSR upon release. Artist Mstislav Dobuzhinsky in a 1947 review criticized the quality of the film and acting, and wrote "It doesn't seem likely that this film is a Russian piece of art. The director and artist have no sense of the Russian soul. Clearly, this is history taken from the point of view of a foreigner or cosmopolitan." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn directly references the film in his 1962 novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; in a scene where two characters argue about the merits of the film, one of the characters claims about Eisenstein "You can’t call him a genius! Call him an ass-kisser who followed orders like a dog."

Bosley Crowther, writing for the New York Times, called Part I a "work of art" and praised the visuals, camerawork, Prokofiev's score, and Cherkasov's performance, while criticizing the lack of continuity in the film, and the "conspicuously tolitarian" depiction of Ivan IV. In contrast, Crowther harshly criticized Part II, calling it a "pale extension" of part I. Ivan the Terrible was awarded 4 out of 4 stars by critic Roger Ebert and included on his list of "Great Movies'. In his 2012 review, Ebert praised the scope and visuals while criticizing the story, and concluded "It is one of those works that has proceeded directly to the status of Great Movie without going through the intermediate stage of being a good movie... every serious movie lover should see it - once." Director Akira Kurosawa named Ivan the Terrible as one of his 100 favorite films. Russian-born director Slava Tsukerman named Ivan the Terrible his favorite film. Michael Chekhov reportedly considered the film excellent from a director's point of view and an artistic point of view, but criticized the quality of the acting. Orson Welles wrote a negative review of Part I, which offended Eisenstein.

While the first part is generally viewed as a Stalinist depiction of Ivan IV, critics such as Naum Kleiman and Dwight Macdonald viewed Part II as a serious critique of Stalinism. Richard Taruskin harshly criticized the film, stating that it "conveyed as poisonous a message as art has ever been asked to monger..."Ivan the Terrible," film and score alike, is dedicated to the proposition that abstract historical purposes justify bloody acts in the here and now."

Screenplay

 * Eisenstein, Sergei M. (1963) Ivan the Terrible: a screenplay; translated by Ivor Montagu and Herbert Marshall; edited by Ivor Montagu. London: Secker / Warburg (published in the US by Simon & Schuster, 1962); includes bibliography

Academic works

 * Eisenstein, Sergeii Mikhailovich, et al. The Film Sense. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. ISBN 978-0-15-630935-6
 * Eisenstein, Sergei, and Jay Leyda. Film Form. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1949. ISBN 0-15-630920-3
 * Ejzenstejn, Sergej, et al. The Eisenstein Reader. London: British Film Institute, 1998. ISBN 0-85170-675-4
 * Gallez, Douglas W. The Prokofiev-Eisenstein Collaboration: "Nevsky" and "Ivan" Revisited. Cinema Journal, 1978.
 * Neuberger, Joan. Ivan the Terrible. London: I. B. Tauris, 2003.
 * Nesbet, Anne. Savage Junctures: Sergei Eisenstein and the Shape of Thinking. City: I. B. Tauris, 2003. ISBN 978-1-85043-330-9
 * Minturn, Neil. The Music of Sergei Prokofiev. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-300-06366-0
 * Thompson, Kristin. Eisenstein's "Ivan the Terrible": A Neoformalist Analysis. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-69110-120-5
 * Tsivian, Yuri. Ivan the Terrible. London: B.F.I. Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-85170-834-X