Historical drama. Eisenstein referred to Ivan the Terrible as «a poet of the state essence», thereby stressing the main thing in the Russian autocrat -striving for strength and unity of Russia, and stopping at nothing in doing so. The film covers more than 20 years of reign of Ivan the Terrible (1547-1567), it consists of a number of series narrating key episodes of his life and of the young Russian state. The first part starts with the inauguration of Ivan IV. Then marriage to Anastasia, conquest of Kazan, Ivan’s disease, death of tsaritsa Anastasia poisoned by the boyars, monarch's reclusion to Alexandrov Sloboda and his return.
Source : www.mosfilm.ru