SCREENING: Ivan the Terrible, Part II (Sergei Eisenstein, 1946)

We preview film historian Ian Christie’s SOVIET CINEMA production design talk at the museum on Saturday 11th July (see EVENTS) with a special screening of Sergei Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible Part II (1946; 1hr 28mins). Some of the greatest production designers of the studio and classic eras in the USA and Europe have begun to win belated recognition, thanks to scholars and historians – not least Ian Christie, the most wide-ranging British film critic-historian of the past 30 years and a renowned expert on Soviet cinema. “Navigating the deadly waters of Stalinist politics, Eisenstein was able to film two parts of his planned trilogy about the troubled sixteenth-century tsar who united Russia. Visually stunning and powerfully acted, Ivan the Terrible charts the rise to power and descent into terror of this veritable dictator. Though pleased with the first instalment, Stalin detested the portrait in the second film—with its summary executions and secret police—and promptly banned it.” (The Criterion Collection) Doors open 5.30, for drinks, nibbles & classic cocktails. Film starts 6.30 with a brief introduction from the curators. Entry is free with a yearly ticket, although we suggest a small donation of £5 per person to help keep the lights on. Yearly tickets can be purchased on the door (£7.50 adult / £6.00 concessions). If you do buy tickets and are subsequently unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can give your seat(s) to someone else.