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Directing style

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In Reply to: Re: Did you see the Part II? posted by Gee LP on March 6, 2005 at 09:16:00:

Eisenstein created a "Moving Frieze". It is high relief sculpture in motion. Interestingly enough one Boris Godunov was presented in that style at the Met (with Jerome Hines who had the size {6'8"} and dedication to carry it off). It was one of the most stunning things I have ever seen on an opera stage.
I thought the style in the movie was perfect to the subject matter.
Re: Victor's point, Part II was delayed for some time by Stalin's fierce opposition. By this time Eisenstein realized that the revolution had not turned out as he had hoped and that was part of the point of his film. The people trusted Ivan and Ivan failed them. "Uncle Joe" got the point and for a bit considered a Gulag for the director (discovered in the early 1990s when we had some access to KGB fles). Stalin was upset because Eisenstein was obliquely saying that the people also trusted the revolution and the revolution failed them. Yeltsin and Putin have simply repeated the pattern.

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Re: Directing style - Gee LP 11:00:34 03/07/05 (1)
Your comments remind of Pauline Kael's view of the directing style of "Ivan the Terrible"...something to the effect of "you keep thinking someone is going to sing, and towards the end of Part I, someone does, in a terrific sequence." (This is not a direct quote of Ms Kael, as my books are still in storage, but you get the gist of her comments).
A "moving frieze"? An apt title for the style. And you are right, the style is perfect for the subject matter.
- Always enjoyed Ms. Kael's comments - Auricle 12:18:01 03/07/05 (0)
  whether I agreed with her or not. Compared with many of her contemporaries (Judith Christ, Rex Reed, Archer Winston, et al) she was an absolute delight. John Simon was also a delight but was often flat, bloody over the top*. Alas, he seems confined to theatre these days.
  Come to think of it, compared to today's crop Ms. Kael was a delight as well.
  * but as a grammarian someone certainly worth a read.

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