Hmm...what can I say?

I have to admit that Ivan the Terrible isn't exactly a movie that I would put on my top twenty list. It was unfortunately, dare I say, a bit boring. The name Ivan the Terrible gives the impression that the film will be bloody and adventurous, and I didn't really find it to be either one of those things.

The movie seems to have a good plot. After Prof. Isham's pre-movie talk in class, I expected an action film. Somehow, in both Ivan the Terrible and Battleship Potemkin, Eisenstein has managed to make two seemingly action movies into anything but that.

However I will give the film some credit. Eisenstein's use of shadows within the film was particularly inventive. One scene especially stuck out in my mind. Ivan is speaking with his 'friend' Kurbsky and his shadow is simply towering over the small diminutive shadow of Kurbsky. It showed, very strikingly, the incredible power that Ivan possesed.

I felt that I really could tell that the film was Eisenstein. Although it seemed to lack the interesting use of montage that he utilized in Battleship Potemkin, the film still incorporated the intense close-ups of the eyes of the actors that was in Battleship Potemkin. Eisenstein also seems to have a knack for picking some of the most awesomly crazy looking actors that he can find. Each movie was filled with ridiculous looking people, all of which look like they came from a place named Pleasant Meadows or St. Mungos. It's one of the things I truly appreciate most about his films.

One more small note, I did notice that Ivan broke a dish. What is up with the breaking of the dishes?! :)