Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944) - full transcript
In 1547, Ivan IV (1530-1584), archduke of Moscow, crowns himself Tsar of Russia and sets about reclaiming lost Russian territory. In scenes of his coronation, his wedding to Anastasia, his campaign against the Tartars in Kazan, his illness when all think he will die, recovery, campaigns in the Baltic and Crimea, self-imposed exile in Alexandrov, and the petition of Muscovites that he return, his enemies among the boyars threaten his success. Chief among them are his aunt, who wants to advance the fortunes of her son, a simpleton, and Kurbsky, a warrior prince who wants both power and the hand of Anastasia. Ivan deftly plays to the people to consolidate his power.
IVAN THE TERRIBLE
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
SERGEI EISENSTEIN
A black cloud is forming
A bloody dawn approaching
The boyars have hatched
a treacherous plot
Against the Tsar's authority
Which they are now unleashing
THIS IS A FILM ABOUT A MAN
WHO WAS THE FIRST TO UNITE
OUR COUNTRY IN THE 16TH CENTURY,
A PRINCE OF MOSCOW
WHO CREATED A SINGLE
AND POWERFUL STATE
FROM A HODGEPODGE OF DIVIDED
AND SELF-SEEKING PRINCIPALITIES,
A WARLORD WHO HERALDED THE
MILITARY GLORY OF OUR MOTHERLAND
THROUGHOUT THE ORIENT
AND THE OCCIDENT,
THE FIRST RULER WHO, IN ORDER
TO REACH THESE GREAT GOALS,
HAD CROWNED HIMSELF
TSAR OF ALL THE RUSSIANS.
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost,
the Archduke and Sovereign
Ivan Vasilievich
is crowned Tsar of Moscow,
anointed of God,
Tsar of Moscow,
absolute sovereign of all
the Russians.
The Archduke of Moscow
has no right to the title of Tsar.
Europe will never recognise him as Tsar.
If he is powerful enough...
she will recognise him.
They say some of his own subjects
are none too pleased about the coronation.
It is not surprising that certain...
lordly personages
are not delighted.
That is the Grand Duke's cousin,
Vladimir Staritsky
with his mother.
Ivan's coronation bars their road
to the throne of Moscow.
But it also seems that Ivan
is not without allies.
Not the Archduke's
but the Tsar's.
For he is now Tsar.
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost.
O Tsar, the Lord's anointed,
accept from him this sceptre.
Accept it, my son.
Accept this orb from God.
Accept it, my son.
In the name of God...
now and forever. Amen.
To the Tsar,
the Lord's anointed,
Ivan
Vasilievich,
the sovereign of all the Russians,
peace, health and salvation.
May the Lord save him and keep him.
Long life to the Tsar.
Long life to the Tsar!
Long life!
Today, for the first time,
the Archduke of Moscow wears
the crown of Tsar of all the Russians.
He thereby puts an end
to the pernicious power of the boyars.
From now on, all the Russians
will form a single State.
What? He dares attack the power
of the boyars?
But to maintain Russia
as a single State,
we have to be strong.
That is why today
I am founding a regular army -
well equipped, militant,
permanent.
And whoever does not fight
in this army
will contribute to its upkeep.
Pay to cut one's own throat.
Similarly, the holy monasteries,
with all their wealth,
will make their contribution.
For their funds pile up
without any advantage
to the Russian land.
We shall need a strong
and undivided State
if we are going to crush those
who oppose the unity of the Russian land.
Only a State strong and unified
within its frontiers
can defend itself beyond them.
Our native land
is no more than a trunk
whose limbs have been hacked off.
The sources of our waterways
and rivers,
Volga, Dvina, Volkhov are ours,
but the ports at their mouths
are under foreign control.
Our ancestral lands
have been torn from us.
That is why, this coronation day,
we are going to set about
retaking occupied Russian territory.
Two Romes have fallen.
Moscow is the third.
There will be no fourth,
for I am absolute master of this third Rome,
the Muscovite State.
The Pope will not sanction it.
The Emperor will not tolerate it.
Europe will not recognise it.
If he is powerful,
everyone will bow down to him.
He must not be allowed
to become powerful.
The marriage is fixed
for St Simon's Day.
We will arrange a fine wedding
for this dictator.
Why such privileges for Ivan?
Why is Prince Kurbsky his vassal?
Is not Kurbsky's nobility
equal to that of Ivan the Muscovite?
Why is Ivan of Moscow
master of Russia?
And not Prince Andrei Kurbsky
of Yaroslav?
The oak trees, the oaks
On their boughs, the turtle doves
Sit nestling there
Lullay, lullay, lullay
Kiss each other! Kiss!
Why are the bells of Moscow
ringing so loudly?
The citizens have gone wild with joy.
Lullay, lullay, lullay
They are cooing to each other
Kiss each other.
Kiss each other! Kiss each other!
Kiss! Kiss!
Kiss each other.
Why are my best friends
so sad today?
Tsar, the people have a saying
that marriage is the end
of friendship.
And what does
Fyodor Kolychev say?
Tsar, you break with tradition.
I foresee trouble.
I do not dare go against my Tsar,
but I cannot follow
in his footsteps.
Let me take holy orders.
You prefer the heavenly king
to the earthly one?
Very well, I shall not stand
between you and him.
Go, and pray for us sinners.
I only ask one thing of you.
Do not abandon us
if misfortune strikes.
If I need you, answer my call.
The people are shouting against
the Glinskys and the Zakharins,
burning and pillaging
and marching on the palace,
demanding to see the Tsar.
To the Tsar!
Moscow is in flames!
Let the people enter.
The Tsar.
The Tsar is bewitched!
By the Tsarina's family.
The Glinskys, the Zakharins
have bewitched him.
Bewitched him.
Justice against the Tsarina's family.
Justice against
the Glinskys and Zakharins.
They tear the hearts
from the breasts of the people.
They sprinkle our houses
with human blood.
The blood bursts into flames
and burns the houses.
The houses burn.
Moscow is horribly bewitched.
The bells are crashing down
from the steeples.
Witchcraft, you say?
Bells falling without reason?
A head which believes in witchcraft
is itself like a bell -
empty.
And can a head fall off...
all by itself?
In order to fall, it has to be cut.
It is just the same with bells.
Those who, without the Tsar's orders,
cut the ropes which support the bells,
will have their own heads cut off -
this time on the Tsar's orders.
The Tsar is pretty sharp.
There's no pulling the wool
over his eyes.
We shall cut off heads ruthlessly
to weed out the treason of the boyars
to the very roots.
A Tsar can only rule
if he holds the reins.
A State without reins
is as uncontrollable
as a horse without a bridle.
But he who ranges himself
at the side of the Tsar
will be rewarded.
He will rejoice in the Tears bounty
and the admiration of our soldiers.
Do not dare, Prince,
even to dream.
I am dedicated to a high cause.
A loyal slave of the Tsar of Moscow.
Our lands are vast and rich...
but disorder is everywhere.
But we ourselves will set our house in order
without appealing to outside help.
We ourselves! Ourselves!
We will crush treachery.
We will crush it!
And we will help the workers,
the shopkeepers, the craftsmen.
We will help them!
Three Tartar envoys from Kazan
insist on seeing the Tsar.
From Kazan?
Tell them to come in at once.
Kazan breaks off her friendship
with Moscow.
Kazan terminates her alliance.
We declare war on Moscow.
Kazan... great.
Moscow... small.
Moscow has no chance.
Our great Khan sends this present.
Russian Tsar wants no shame.
Russian Tsar ends his own life.
God is my witness
that we did not want war.
But the time has passed
when insolent foreigners
can invade Muscovite territory with impunity.
And this dagger will strike down
whoever raises his hand
against Moscow.
We will finish with Kazan
once and for all.
It is we who will go to Kazan.
To Kazan!
To Kazan!
Listen, Khan.
It is Kazan which is small...
and Moscow
which is great.
To Kazan!
You will command
the first regiment.
To Kazan!
To Kazan!
Misery
Misery, sorrow,
The Tartar Steppes
The unclaimed coins
at the end of the battle
will indicate the number
of our losses.
One, two, heave!
The tunnel can now
be packed with gunpowder.
At last. After a month of waiting.
It's certainly time to start the attack.
Tunnels and powder -
the Tsar's own invention.
You don't think my gunpowder
will work?
Horsemanship.
Parades.
That's all you understand.
Shout, "Surrender, Kazan!"
Oh! Kazan!
It is better that you die
by our hands,
than by those of the uncircumcised.
Such savagery is madness.
It's stupid, revolting.
Even an untrained beast
has got more restraint.
He has dared to raise his hand
against the Tsar.
I wanted to protect you
from the arrows.
If that was your reason...
thank you.
The Baltic ambassador was right.
Compared to him...
I'll never be more than a cur.
Some arrows arrive
at just the right moment.
Even deadlier than arrows
is the boyars' hatred.
Beware of boyars more than arrows.
Your name?
Alexei Basmanov, son of Daniel.
I shall not forget the name
of one who hates the boyars.
Look, Fyodor. Look, my son.
The Tsar of all the Russians.
The Tsar.
To Kazan!
Support Kurbsky.
Now I am truly Tsar.
The whole world will acknowledge
the Tsar of Moscow
as the true ruler of all the Russians.
How is the Tsar of Moscow's health?
The Tsar is very ill.
The Tsar fell ill while on the journey
back from Kazan.
So now even you
acknowledge him as Tsar.
God is just.
This Muscovite prince wanted
to set himself
above all other princes.
And now it's all over.
Well, Prince, always second best?
You loved Anastasia.
Ivan took her from you.
You fought the battle of Kazan.
Yet it is Ivan who is the hero
and who has all the glory,
whilst you...
Ah. Prince, your conquest
of Kazan has only added
to your misfortune
as well as to that of the boyars.
As for your head,
it will not stay on your shoulders.
The Tsar will not forget
the arrow at Kazan.
And if he should forget,
there will always be someone
to remind him.
The eye of the Tsar.
Malyuta.
As long as Ivan lives,
Kurbsky will only stagnate.
God is good.
They are bringing the Tsar
the Holy Sacrament.
It is their custom,
just before death.
Lord, have mercy on my soul.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
To whom will you swear
an oath of allegiance?
To Dmitri, the heir apparent.
To Ivan's son.
And Anastasia.
It is the widow's still-warm bed
which fills your thoughts.
You want to make her
your mistress.
Swear allegiance to Vladimir.
Money doesn't buy men like you.
They have to be offered a kingdom.
With Vladimir on the throne,
it is you who will act as regent.
He is worse than a child.
He is moronic.
You will be absolute master.
Swear allegiance to Vladimir.
The Tsar is calling.
The end is near.
I bid the world farewell.
Swear allegiance
to my legitimate heir...
Dmitri.
Swear loyalty to my son.
Swear allegiance to my son.
Only an undivided, legitimate throne
will save Moscow
from her enemies
and internecine conflict,
without which the Tartars
will again violate our frontiers.
The Poles and the Livonians encroach.
I don't entreat you for me
or my son,
but for the unity
of the Motherland.
Palitsky.
Ivan.
Turuntai-Pronsky.
Kolychev the Wise.
Daniel Bogdany.
You - give an example.
Kolychev the Unconquerable,
Why don't you speak?
Kurletov.
Funikov.
You will be cursed forever.
Traitors to the Russian Earth.
All of you will be cursed...
cursed for all eternity.
Only Dmitri... his son...
can save Russia.
Once you have rejected
undivided authority,
no matter how strong, courageous,
intelligent you may be,
your government will be directionless.
Your feuds and hatreds
will deliver you up to the foreigner.
The boyars will never submit
to the offspring
of the Prince of Moscow.
Power must pass to a Tsar
who will share it with the boyars
and who will serve not
some unknown Russian State,
but the noble boyars.
Swear allegiance
to the Tsar Vladimir.
Long live the Tsar
of the boyars.
The road to the throne?
Or the road to marriage?
Which one?
Anastasia? Efrosinia?
Anastasia, if you will be mine,
I will protect you
from the boyars.
If you will be mine
I will raise you to the throne.
If you will be mine,
we will rule Russia together.
Without you,
my life has no meaning.
Nor death either.
With you, the throne...
or the scaffold
it's all the same.
My Tsarina of Moscow.
Prince, one does not bury a man
before he is dead.
You mean Ivan isn't dead?
God will be your judge.
Ivan is not dead.
If Ivan is not dead...
Kurbsky can no longer live.
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost,
I swear by the Holy Writ
to serve faithfully
the heir to the throne,
the legitimate Tsar of Moscow,
Dmitri Ivanovich.
In evidence of which,
I kiss the cross.
The Holy Sacrament has cured me.
You... have always been close
to the Tsar.
I shall raise you higher still,
for at the hour of the supreme test
you alone remained faithful.
I shall invest you
with a sacred mission.
We have consolidated the East,
so you will lead the Russian forces
to the West... to the Baltic.
Flying like an arrow?
Well, fly.
And to defend our southern borders
against the Crimean Khan,
I appoint Alexei Basmanov.
Who? Who is he?
The Tsar trusts no one.
He sends away the boyars
who are closest to him.
He surrounds himself
with nobodies.
Like these low-born Basmanovs
and takes them into
his confidence.
I know.
He strips us
of our hereditary possessions
and distributes them
to absolutely anyone.
He persecutes the boyars.
Shchenyatov has been arrested.
Kurletov has been arrested.
I know.
I'm going to escape.
I dare not.
I'm frightened...
I shall flee to Livonia.
Ivan Ivanovich,
are you not ashamed?
The Archbishop has gone
to see the Tsar.
He will get us pardoned.
The Tsar pardons no one.
He has stripped me,
his confessor... of everything.
He's sending me from Moscow
to Novgorod.
I must get away!
For God's sake, fly.
Let cowards run away.
Those who stay will fight.
Whilst the Tsar's best friend
Kurbsky is away...
we must take him firmly in hand.
To start with, we must curb
Ivan's power.
We must oppose his military
campaigns,
refuse the money for the war
in the Baltic provinces.
But above all else,
we must separate Anastasia from Ivan.
It is I who will take charge of that.
I need the maritime towns,
the Baltic towns,
Riga... Revel.
I need Narva.
Once again the Rigans
and the Hanseatics
have intercepted
the English ships.
Once again they deprive me
of lead, of sulphur
and my artillery of trained gunners.
I shall use force to stop
these treacherous neighbours
from throttling our commerce.
Not only the Germans are
stumbling blocks to our ambitions,
but also you boyars.
In opposing my campaigns
in the Baltic
you are worse than the Germans
and the Livonians.
You are Russia's worst enemies.
You see, Nepeya,
just why I have to
bring about this alliance.
Take this present
to the gracious
Queen Elizabeth of England.
You will demonstrate to her
with these pieces
just how the English boats
can go around the Baltic,
to reach us by the White Sea
in the teeth of the Germans
and Livonians.
And remind her
that Tsar Ivan in Moscow
is solely in charge of negotiations,
that he orders and controls
all commerce.
He accords privileges
to whosoever pleases him
and whosoever does not please him
will never enter Moscow.
On the other hand, his friends
will have the route to the East
completely open.
Are you troubled, Tsar Ivan?
I am alone. There is no one I can trust.
Kurbsky is far away...
fighting in the Baltic states.
Fyodor Kolychev is even
further away,
praying in the Solovyets monastery.
I have only you.
It's from Ryazan.
It's from Basmanov.
Again the boyars.
They have disobeyed my orders again.
They betray Russia.
They are preventing Basmanov
and the people from defending Ryazan.
They are ready
to surrender the city
to the Khan of the Crimea.
Be firm.
I will be. So much the worse
for the boyars.
I shall confiscate
all their estates.
The only concessions
I will make
will be for services to the State.
But those who dishonour themselves
on the battlefield will lose everything.
You go too far, Tsar Ivan.
Bad news.
The Russian troops at Revel
have been beaten.
Kurbsky is beaten.
Kurbsky?
Could he have betrayed us?
God be my salvation
for the waters are come in
unto my soul.
I sink beneath the deep waters
Where nothing can save me.
I am in the depths of the flood
and its current bears me away.
I no longer have the strength to groan.
My tongue is dry,
my eyes no longer see.
Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Shuisky
has fled to Livonia.
Prince Ivan Vasilievich
Sheremetyev
was captured in flight.
Boyar Tugoi Luk-Suzdalsky
has fled to Livonia.
Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous
than the hairs on my head.
Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky
has fled.
Prince Ivan Ivanovich Turuntai-Pronsky
has been recaptured,
arrested and brought to Moscow.
Have I done wrong?
Is it God's punishment?
I have become a stranger
unto my brethren
and without significance
to the sons of my own mother.
Am I right in my heavy struggle?
Great Sovereign,
Kurbsky has fled to King Sigismund.
What? My friend, Kurbsky?
What have I done to him?
What more could he have wanted?
Or could it be...
that he coveted my crown?
Taking advantage of the defeat
in the Baltic states,
the boyars are rousing
the people against you.
Shame has eaten into my heart
and I am full of weariness.
I have looked for mercy...
but it has not been granted to me.
I have sought consolation
but without finding it.
You lie.
The Tsar of Moscow has not yet
been brought to heel.
You are few.
Send for my last and only
remaining faithful friend,
Fyodor Kolychev.
He is praying for us
in the far-off Solovyets monastery.
Tsar, do not trust
Boyar Kolychev.
Surround yourself with new men
who have sprung from the people
and who owe you everything.
With them, forge about you
an iron ring,
a circle of spears
pointing towards the enemy.
Choose men
who will renounce everything,
who will deny father and mother
to serve only the Tsar
and the dictates of his will.
The first link of the iron ring
will be my son.
To these noble ends
I donate my only son.
With these men alone
you will be able to retain power,
break the boyars.
You are right, Alyoshka.
I shall bind myself about with iron.
We will form
a brotherhood of iron.
Outside the brotherhood
we will trust no one.
I shall be an iron leader.
I shall leave Moscow
and withdraw
to the hamlet of Alexandrov.
You will take Moscow by assault.
You will return to Moscow
as a conqueror.
No, it is not as a soldier
I will return,
not as a soldier
but summoned
by the entire populace.
Don't rely on the people.
Don't listen to beggars...
don't trust vagabonds.
You are getting above yourself, cur.
You presume to instruct the Tsar.
By the people's summons...
I shall gain limitless power.
It will be like a new coronation,
enabling me relentlessly
to consummate my great task.
What do you say?
You are right.
The call of the people
will express God's will.
I shall accept the sword of vengeance
from God's hand.
I shall accomplish great things.
Two Romes have fallen.
Moscow is the third.
She will stand firm,
for there will never be a fourth.
"These princes and boyars
have amassed great wealth
"but not a thought
do they spare for the Tsar or the state,
"and they are even indifferent to religion
since they refuse to defend themselves
"against our enemies -
the Tartars, the Livonians, the Germans -
"and oppress the people.
"This is why the Tsar,
Sovereign and Grand Duke
"is abandoning the State
"and Moscow, the capital.
"But the Tsar bears no malice
against the citizens,
"shopkeepers
and Orthodox Christians of Moscow,
"and in no way holds them responsible."
As for those good Christians
who don't side with the boyar princes
or the well-known families,
and are of humble origin
and ready to serve the Tsar faithfully,
the Tsar summons them
to join his bodyguard
and to swear allegiance to him
at the hamlet of Alexandrov.
Are you waiting
for a message from Moscow?
Have pity, O Lord...
The first English boats, laden with arms and
munitions, have just entered the White Sea.
We have outwitted you,
Germans and Livonians.
The day is coming
when you will drop to your knees
before the authority of Moscow.
Have mercy, O Lord...
O return, O return
O return
The father of us all
Get the horses saddled.
We are going back to Moscow...
to work for the future
of the Great Russian State.
END OF PART ONE
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
SERGEI EISENSTEIN
A black cloud is forming
A bloody dawn approaching
The boyars have hatched
a treacherous plot
Against the Tsar's authority
Which they are now unleashing
THIS IS A FILM ABOUT A MAN
WHO WAS THE FIRST TO UNITE
OUR COUNTRY IN THE 16TH CENTURY,
A PRINCE OF MOSCOW
WHO CREATED A SINGLE
AND POWERFUL STATE
FROM A HODGEPODGE OF DIVIDED
AND SELF-SEEKING PRINCIPALITIES,
A WARLORD WHO HERALDED THE
MILITARY GLORY OF OUR MOTHERLAND
THROUGHOUT THE ORIENT
AND THE OCCIDENT,
THE FIRST RULER WHO, IN ORDER
TO REACH THESE GREAT GOALS,
HAD CROWNED HIMSELF
TSAR OF ALL THE RUSSIANS.
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost,
the Archduke and Sovereign
Ivan Vasilievich
is crowned Tsar of Moscow,
anointed of God,
Tsar of Moscow,
absolute sovereign of all
the Russians.
The Archduke of Moscow
has no right to the title of Tsar.
Europe will never recognise him as Tsar.
If he is powerful enough...
she will recognise him.
They say some of his own subjects
are none too pleased about the coronation.
It is not surprising that certain...
lordly personages
are not delighted.
That is the Grand Duke's cousin,
Vladimir Staritsky
with his mother.
Ivan's coronation bars their road
to the throne of Moscow.
But it also seems that Ivan
is not without allies.
Not the Archduke's
but the Tsar's.
For he is now Tsar.
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost.
O Tsar, the Lord's anointed,
accept from him this sceptre.
Accept it, my son.
Accept this orb from God.
Accept it, my son.
In the name of God...
now and forever. Amen.
To the Tsar,
the Lord's anointed,
Ivan
Vasilievich,
the sovereign of all the Russians,
peace, health and salvation.
May the Lord save him and keep him.
Long life to the Tsar.
Long life to the Tsar!
Long life!
Today, for the first time,
the Archduke of Moscow wears
the crown of Tsar of all the Russians.
He thereby puts an end
to the pernicious power of the boyars.
From now on, all the Russians
will form a single State.
What? He dares attack the power
of the boyars?
But to maintain Russia
as a single State,
we have to be strong.
That is why today
I am founding a regular army -
well equipped, militant,
permanent.
And whoever does not fight
in this army
will contribute to its upkeep.
Pay to cut one's own throat.
Similarly, the holy monasteries,
with all their wealth,
will make their contribution.
For their funds pile up
without any advantage
to the Russian land.
We shall need a strong
and undivided State
if we are going to crush those
who oppose the unity of the Russian land.
Only a State strong and unified
within its frontiers
can defend itself beyond them.
Our native land
is no more than a trunk
whose limbs have been hacked off.
The sources of our waterways
and rivers,
Volga, Dvina, Volkhov are ours,
but the ports at their mouths
are under foreign control.
Our ancestral lands
have been torn from us.
That is why, this coronation day,
we are going to set about
retaking occupied Russian territory.
Two Romes have fallen.
Moscow is the third.
There will be no fourth,
for I am absolute master of this third Rome,
the Muscovite State.
The Pope will not sanction it.
The Emperor will not tolerate it.
Europe will not recognise it.
If he is powerful,
everyone will bow down to him.
He must not be allowed
to become powerful.
The marriage is fixed
for St Simon's Day.
We will arrange a fine wedding
for this dictator.
Why such privileges for Ivan?
Why is Prince Kurbsky his vassal?
Is not Kurbsky's nobility
equal to that of Ivan the Muscovite?
Why is Ivan of Moscow
master of Russia?
And not Prince Andrei Kurbsky
of Yaroslav?
The oak trees, the oaks
On their boughs, the turtle doves
Sit nestling there
Lullay, lullay, lullay
Kiss each other! Kiss!
Why are the bells of Moscow
ringing so loudly?
The citizens have gone wild with joy.
Lullay, lullay, lullay
They are cooing to each other
Kiss each other.
Kiss each other! Kiss each other!
Kiss! Kiss!
Kiss each other.
Why are my best friends
so sad today?
Tsar, the people have a saying
that marriage is the end
of friendship.
And what does
Fyodor Kolychev say?
Tsar, you break with tradition.
I foresee trouble.
I do not dare go against my Tsar,
but I cannot follow
in his footsteps.
Let me take holy orders.
You prefer the heavenly king
to the earthly one?
Very well, I shall not stand
between you and him.
Go, and pray for us sinners.
I only ask one thing of you.
Do not abandon us
if misfortune strikes.
If I need you, answer my call.
The people are shouting against
the Glinskys and the Zakharins,
burning and pillaging
and marching on the palace,
demanding to see the Tsar.
To the Tsar!
Moscow is in flames!
Let the people enter.
The Tsar.
The Tsar is bewitched!
By the Tsarina's family.
The Glinskys, the Zakharins
have bewitched him.
Bewitched him.
Justice against the Tsarina's family.
Justice against
the Glinskys and Zakharins.
They tear the hearts
from the breasts of the people.
They sprinkle our houses
with human blood.
The blood bursts into flames
and burns the houses.
The houses burn.
Moscow is horribly bewitched.
The bells are crashing down
from the steeples.
Witchcraft, you say?
Bells falling without reason?
A head which believes in witchcraft
is itself like a bell -
empty.
And can a head fall off...
all by itself?
In order to fall, it has to be cut.
It is just the same with bells.
Those who, without the Tsar's orders,
cut the ropes which support the bells,
will have their own heads cut off -
this time on the Tsar's orders.
The Tsar is pretty sharp.
There's no pulling the wool
over his eyes.
We shall cut off heads ruthlessly
to weed out the treason of the boyars
to the very roots.
A Tsar can only rule
if he holds the reins.
A State without reins
is as uncontrollable
as a horse without a bridle.
But he who ranges himself
at the side of the Tsar
will be rewarded.
He will rejoice in the Tears bounty
and the admiration of our soldiers.
Do not dare, Prince,
even to dream.
I am dedicated to a high cause.
A loyal slave of the Tsar of Moscow.
Our lands are vast and rich...
but disorder is everywhere.
But we ourselves will set our house in order
without appealing to outside help.
We ourselves! Ourselves!
We will crush treachery.
We will crush it!
And we will help the workers,
the shopkeepers, the craftsmen.
We will help them!
Three Tartar envoys from Kazan
insist on seeing the Tsar.
From Kazan?
Tell them to come in at once.
Kazan breaks off her friendship
with Moscow.
Kazan terminates her alliance.
We declare war on Moscow.
Kazan... great.
Moscow... small.
Moscow has no chance.
Our great Khan sends this present.
Russian Tsar wants no shame.
Russian Tsar ends his own life.
God is my witness
that we did not want war.
But the time has passed
when insolent foreigners
can invade Muscovite territory with impunity.
And this dagger will strike down
whoever raises his hand
against Moscow.
We will finish with Kazan
once and for all.
It is we who will go to Kazan.
To Kazan!
To Kazan!
Listen, Khan.
It is Kazan which is small...
and Moscow
which is great.
To Kazan!
You will command
the first regiment.
To Kazan!
To Kazan!
Misery
Misery, sorrow,
The Tartar Steppes
The unclaimed coins
at the end of the battle
will indicate the number
of our losses.
One, two, heave!
The tunnel can now
be packed with gunpowder.
At last. After a month of waiting.
It's certainly time to start the attack.
Tunnels and powder -
the Tsar's own invention.
You don't think my gunpowder
will work?
Horsemanship.
Parades.
That's all you understand.
Shout, "Surrender, Kazan!"
Oh! Kazan!
It is better that you die
by our hands,
than by those of the uncircumcised.
Such savagery is madness.
It's stupid, revolting.
Even an untrained beast
has got more restraint.
He has dared to raise his hand
against the Tsar.
I wanted to protect you
from the arrows.
If that was your reason...
thank you.
The Baltic ambassador was right.
Compared to him...
I'll never be more than a cur.
Some arrows arrive
at just the right moment.
Even deadlier than arrows
is the boyars' hatred.
Beware of boyars more than arrows.
Your name?
Alexei Basmanov, son of Daniel.
I shall not forget the name
of one who hates the boyars.
Look, Fyodor. Look, my son.
The Tsar of all the Russians.
The Tsar.
To Kazan!
Support Kurbsky.
Now I am truly Tsar.
The whole world will acknowledge
the Tsar of Moscow
as the true ruler of all the Russians.
How is the Tsar of Moscow's health?
The Tsar is very ill.
The Tsar fell ill while on the journey
back from Kazan.
So now even you
acknowledge him as Tsar.
God is just.
This Muscovite prince wanted
to set himself
above all other princes.
And now it's all over.
Well, Prince, always second best?
You loved Anastasia.
Ivan took her from you.
You fought the battle of Kazan.
Yet it is Ivan who is the hero
and who has all the glory,
whilst you...
Ah. Prince, your conquest
of Kazan has only added
to your misfortune
as well as to that of the boyars.
As for your head,
it will not stay on your shoulders.
The Tsar will not forget
the arrow at Kazan.
And if he should forget,
there will always be someone
to remind him.
The eye of the Tsar.
Malyuta.
As long as Ivan lives,
Kurbsky will only stagnate.
God is good.
They are bringing the Tsar
the Holy Sacrament.
It is their custom,
just before death.
Lord, have mercy on my soul.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
To whom will you swear
an oath of allegiance?
To Dmitri, the heir apparent.
To Ivan's son.
And Anastasia.
It is the widow's still-warm bed
which fills your thoughts.
You want to make her
your mistress.
Swear allegiance to Vladimir.
Money doesn't buy men like you.
They have to be offered a kingdom.
With Vladimir on the throne,
it is you who will act as regent.
He is worse than a child.
He is moronic.
You will be absolute master.
Swear allegiance to Vladimir.
The Tsar is calling.
The end is near.
I bid the world farewell.
Swear allegiance
to my legitimate heir...
Dmitri.
Swear loyalty to my son.
Swear allegiance to my son.
Only an undivided, legitimate throne
will save Moscow
from her enemies
and internecine conflict,
without which the Tartars
will again violate our frontiers.
The Poles and the Livonians encroach.
I don't entreat you for me
or my son,
but for the unity
of the Motherland.
Palitsky.
Ivan.
Turuntai-Pronsky.
Kolychev the Wise.
Daniel Bogdany.
You - give an example.
Kolychev the Unconquerable,
Why don't you speak?
Kurletov.
Funikov.
You will be cursed forever.
Traitors to the Russian Earth.
All of you will be cursed...
cursed for all eternity.
Only Dmitri... his son...
can save Russia.
Once you have rejected
undivided authority,
no matter how strong, courageous,
intelligent you may be,
your government will be directionless.
Your feuds and hatreds
will deliver you up to the foreigner.
The boyars will never submit
to the offspring
of the Prince of Moscow.
Power must pass to a Tsar
who will share it with the boyars
and who will serve not
some unknown Russian State,
but the noble boyars.
Swear allegiance
to the Tsar Vladimir.
Long live the Tsar
of the boyars.
The road to the throne?
Or the road to marriage?
Which one?
Anastasia? Efrosinia?
Anastasia, if you will be mine,
I will protect you
from the boyars.
If you will be mine
I will raise you to the throne.
If you will be mine,
we will rule Russia together.
Without you,
my life has no meaning.
Nor death either.
With you, the throne...
or the scaffold
it's all the same.
My Tsarina of Moscow.
Prince, one does not bury a man
before he is dead.
You mean Ivan isn't dead?
God will be your judge.
Ivan is not dead.
If Ivan is not dead...
Kurbsky can no longer live.
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost,
I swear by the Holy Writ
to serve faithfully
the heir to the throne,
the legitimate Tsar of Moscow,
Dmitri Ivanovich.
In evidence of which,
I kiss the cross.
The Holy Sacrament has cured me.
You... have always been close
to the Tsar.
I shall raise you higher still,
for at the hour of the supreme test
you alone remained faithful.
I shall invest you
with a sacred mission.
We have consolidated the East,
so you will lead the Russian forces
to the West... to the Baltic.
Flying like an arrow?
Well, fly.
And to defend our southern borders
against the Crimean Khan,
I appoint Alexei Basmanov.
Who? Who is he?
The Tsar trusts no one.
He sends away the boyars
who are closest to him.
He surrounds himself
with nobodies.
Like these low-born Basmanovs
and takes them into
his confidence.
I know.
He strips us
of our hereditary possessions
and distributes them
to absolutely anyone.
He persecutes the boyars.
Shchenyatov has been arrested.
Kurletov has been arrested.
I know.
I'm going to escape.
I dare not.
I'm frightened...
I shall flee to Livonia.
Ivan Ivanovich,
are you not ashamed?
The Archbishop has gone
to see the Tsar.
He will get us pardoned.
The Tsar pardons no one.
He has stripped me,
his confessor... of everything.
He's sending me from Moscow
to Novgorod.
I must get away!
For God's sake, fly.
Let cowards run away.
Those who stay will fight.
Whilst the Tsar's best friend
Kurbsky is away...
we must take him firmly in hand.
To start with, we must curb
Ivan's power.
We must oppose his military
campaigns,
refuse the money for the war
in the Baltic provinces.
But above all else,
we must separate Anastasia from Ivan.
It is I who will take charge of that.
I need the maritime towns,
the Baltic towns,
Riga... Revel.
I need Narva.
Once again the Rigans
and the Hanseatics
have intercepted
the English ships.
Once again they deprive me
of lead, of sulphur
and my artillery of trained gunners.
I shall use force to stop
these treacherous neighbours
from throttling our commerce.
Not only the Germans are
stumbling blocks to our ambitions,
but also you boyars.
In opposing my campaigns
in the Baltic
you are worse than the Germans
and the Livonians.
You are Russia's worst enemies.
You see, Nepeya,
just why I have to
bring about this alliance.
Take this present
to the gracious
Queen Elizabeth of England.
You will demonstrate to her
with these pieces
just how the English boats
can go around the Baltic,
to reach us by the White Sea
in the teeth of the Germans
and Livonians.
And remind her
that Tsar Ivan in Moscow
is solely in charge of negotiations,
that he orders and controls
all commerce.
He accords privileges
to whosoever pleases him
and whosoever does not please him
will never enter Moscow.
On the other hand, his friends
will have the route to the East
completely open.
Are you troubled, Tsar Ivan?
I am alone. There is no one I can trust.
Kurbsky is far away...
fighting in the Baltic states.
Fyodor Kolychev is even
further away,
praying in the Solovyets monastery.
I have only you.
It's from Ryazan.
It's from Basmanov.
Again the boyars.
They have disobeyed my orders again.
They betray Russia.
They are preventing Basmanov
and the people from defending Ryazan.
They are ready
to surrender the city
to the Khan of the Crimea.
Be firm.
I will be. So much the worse
for the boyars.
I shall confiscate
all their estates.
The only concessions
I will make
will be for services to the State.
But those who dishonour themselves
on the battlefield will lose everything.
You go too far, Tsar Ivan.
Bad news.
The Russian troops at Revel
have been beaten.
Kurbsky is beaten.
Kurbsky?
Could he have betrayed us?
God be my salvation
for the waters are come in
unto my soul.
I sink beneath the deep waters
Where nothing can save me.
I am in the depths of the flood
and its current bears me away.
I no longer have the strength to groan.
My tongue is dry,
my eyes no longer see.
Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Shuisky
has fled to Livonia.
Prince Ivan Vasilievich
Sheremetyev
was captured in flight.
Boyar Tugoi Luk-Suzdalsky
has fled to Livonia.
Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous
than the hairs on my head.
Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky
has fled.
Prince Ivan Ivanovich Turuntai-Pronsky
has been recaptured,
arrested and brought to Moscow.
Have I done wrong?
Is it God's punishment?
I have become a stranger
unto my brethren
and without significance
to the sons of my own mother.
Am I right in my heavy struggle?
Great Sovereign,
Kurbsky has fled to King Sigismund.
What? My friend, Kurbsky?
What have I done to him?
What more could he have wanted?
Or could it be...
that he coveted my crown?
Taking advantage of the defeat
in the Baltic states,
the boyars are rousing
the people against you.
Shame has eaten into my heart
and I am full of weariness.
I have looked for mercy...
but it has not been granted to me.
I have sought consolation
but without finding it.
You lie.
The Tsar of Moscow has not yet
been brought to heel.
You are few.
Send for my last and only
remaining faithful friend,
Fyodor Kolychev.
He is praying for us
in the far-off Solovyets monastery.
Tsar, do not trust
Boyar Kolychev.
Surround yourself with new men
who have sprung from the people
and who owe you everything.
With them, forge about you
an iron ring,
a circle of spears
pointing towards the enemy.
Choose men
who will renounce everything,
who will deny father and mother
to serve only the Tsar
and the dictates of his will.
The first link of the iron ring
will be my son.
To these noble ends
I donate my only son.
With these men alone
you will be able to retain power,
break the boyars.
You are right, Alyoshka.
I shall bind myself about with iron.
We will form
a brotherhood of iron.
Outside the brotherhood
we will trust no one.
I shall be an iron leader.
I shall leave Moscow
and withdraw
to the hamlet of Alexandrov.
You will take Moscow by assault.
You will return to Moscow
as a conqueror.
No, it is not as a soldier
I will return,
not as a soldier
but summoned
by the entire populace.
Don't rely on the people.
Don't listen to beggars...
don't trust vagabonds.
You are getting above yourself, cur.
You presume to instruct the Tsar.
By the people's summons...
I shall gain limitless power.
It will be like a new coronation,
enabling me relentlessly
to consummate my great task.
What do you say?
You are right.
The call of the people
will express God's will.
I shall accept the sword of vengeance
from God's hand.
I shall accomplish great things.
Two Romes have fallen.
Moscow is the third.
She will stand firm,
for there will never be a fourth.
"These princes and boyars
have amassed great wealth
"but not a thought
do they spare for the Tsar or the state,
"and they are even indifferent to religion
since they refuse to defend themselves
"against our enemies -
the Tartars, the Livonians, the Germans -
"and oppress the people.
"This is why the Tsar,
Sovereign and Grand Duke
"is abandoning the State
"and Moscow, the capital.
"But the Tsar bears no malice
against the citizens,
"shopkeepers
and Orthodox Christians of Moscow,
"and in no way holds them responsible."
As for those good Christians
who don't side with the boyar princes
or the well-known families,
and are of humble origin
and ready to serve the Tsar faithfully,
the Tsar summons them
to join his bodyguard
and to swear allegiance to him
at the hamlet of Alexandrov.
Are you waiting
for a message from Moscow?
Have pity, O Lord...
The first English boats, laden with arms and
munitions, have just entered the White Sea.
We have outwitted you,
Germans and Livonians.
The day is coming
when you will drop to your knees
before the authority of Moscow.
Have mercy, O Lord...
O return, O return
O return
The father of us all
Get the horses saddled.
We are going back to Moscow...
to work for the future
of the Great Russian State.
END OF PART ONE