Meet Ivan the Terrible in The Tsar with English subtitles

The Tsar (Царь) is the Russian selection for Cannes Festival. The trailer looks very promising and seems to have it all: great costumes and large-scale historical reconstruction, catchy plot and high production quality.

One of the most prominent trends of Russian cinema during last 5 years was historical movies. Usually they are "hollywoodish" action-oriented large-scale blockbusters (Admiral, 1612, Turkish Gambit) with "easy" adventurous plot, but probably not this time. Director Pavel Lungin is known for deep psychological insights and religious mysticism.

The movie reveals Russian Dark Ages and the reign of Ivan the Terrible. While Russia is tortured with the hunger and Livonian War, Ivan and his "Tsar's dogs" oprichniks pursue betrayals, both real and imaginary ones. The only one who resists Tsar's cruelty is Metropolitan bishop Filipp, Ivan's friend since childhood.