The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is screening a marathon double-installment of Sergei Eisenstein’s other (not Battleship Potempkin) masterpiece, Ivan the Terrible. Firmly rooted on land, Ivan the Terrible, chronicles the epic and fascinating exploits of 16th century Russian tsar Ivan IV.
The film hit a little too close to home for everyone’s favorite Russian dictator, Stalin, who promptly banned the second installment of what was originally intended as a trilogy. Secret police actions and summary executions were apparently not his thing, or were his thing, or were somebody else’s thing, oh I’ve said too much I might as well go stand by this wall. Thanks to time, we now have the liberty to watch both discs without the tacit terror of Number One’s watchful eye.
Jokes aside, Eisenstein is one of the great directors of early filmmaking and remains influential to this day. The show starts at 7 PM, Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th, and 2 PM on Sunday the 25th. Tickets are $8, $6 for students, seniors, teachers & YBCA
members.
