Watching films by Eisenstein in both the silent and sound movies it is apparent that several of his strategies had changed with the technology that went along with it. He seems to shy away from the montage style that made him famous to an extent. There are still many scenes that contain several montage characteristics. One major thing that Eisenstein kept in both of these films is that the heroic characters always seem to be looking off into the distants as a way to symbolize them always looking forward.
Eisenstein does a good job of creating a Socialist Realist plot. The Czar Ivan is working extremely hard to unite all of Russia in order to create a central government. The trecherous Boyars (symbolizing the bourgeois) and the members of the clergy (the church too was an enemy of communist Russia) betray and plot against him several times throughout the film. Also Ivan continously attempts to spread the wealth between the entire population, and frequently helps the peasents in the film. Lastly there are several scenes where either Ivan or his shadow is portrayed as being bigger than most of of the other characters. All of these things demonstrate Stalin's ideals and is undoubtedly why Stalin and most of Russia loved it.
Though I do think it's also a film that a Western (or any non-Soviet) audience can watch and appreciate w/out needing to know the tenets of Socialist Realism or the Soviet parallels. To me that seems to be one of the strengths of the film--that it can be seen both as part of the larger political jigsaw puzzle, but also as a separate and independent piece of art.
ReplyDelete