Eisenstein's last, unfinished masterpiece is a strange, complex and haunting film. Commissioned personally by Stalin in 1941, Ivan the Terrible placed Eisenstein in the paradoxical situation of having to glorify Stalinist tyranny in the image of Ivan without sacrificing his own artistic and political integrity--or his life. Drawing on sources that include Eisenstein's personal archive and the memoirs of those involved in the film's making, Joan Neuberger's vivid account reveals how, in almost impossible circumstances, Eisenstein managed to create a film of cinematic innovation,...