суббота, 13 мая 2017 г.

Non est magnum ingenium sine mixtur dementiae


First of all - it would be a mistake to treat Ivan the Terrible as a biopic, as a historical film. The stylization after opera and Shakespeare's plays, such as HamletKing LearMacbeth, is deliberate: Eisenstein himself defined Ivan the Terrible as a "tragedy in the Shakespearean mode". Indeed: Ivan the Terrible tells about real Ivan IV, the first Russian tsar, as much as Hamlet tells about real 12th-century Amleth.

Ivan the Terrible sacrifices historicity for the sake of aesthetics and story: the chronology is not correct, many important events are simplified or omitted (to name a few - Ivan IV was officially married at least 4 times, he was crowned by metropolitan Makarius - not bishop Pimen, Efrosinia Staritskaya wasn't the sole head of the boyar opposition, Vladimir Staritsky wasn't mentally deficient, Grigory "Malyuta" Skuratov entered the tsar retinue well after the depicted events, the Basmanovs weren't commoners, etc.)

By many deliberate inaccuracies and generalizations Eisenstein makes the point that he creates neither biopic nor historical epic but a many-layered timeless parable. As the first opening credits say, in large letters: "This is a film about a man...". It’s hard to add anything more specific because of all the themes Ivan the Terrible incorporates. Is it about tyranny? Or about a man assuming the role of god? Or being "lonely at the top"? Or is it a desperate outcry against cruelty and autocracy? Or about the road to hell which is paved with good intentions? About revenge and retaliation - the cycle of violence which never breaks?... Like with Mona Lisa's smile - a multitude of interpretations is possible.

Ivan the Terrible combines both the elements of the classical European theater based on Shakespeare's plays, and the Asian theatrical tradition with its emphasis on gesture, pose, movement. The characters' faces seem to be inspired by Renaissance paintings but the body language is strongly influenced by Noh and Kabuki performance. And the Peking opera, of course: not surprising, considering Eisenstein's friendship with Mei Lanfang, the famous performer of female roles, whom he filmed during Mei Lanfang's visit to USSR in 1935. 

The actors speak in over-the-top theatrical, unnatural manner. Their movements are symbolic and suggestive, rather than realistic. Similar to the Peking opera, Ivan the Terrible presents idealized, generalized images, that convey spiritual likeness of people, which stimulates viewer's imagination - not just a formal, physical resemblance.

Тем, кто писал мне на почту с вопросами по сяо и не получал ответа: Причине, по которой этот блог не обновляется, а указанная в контактах по...