by Sergei M. Eisenstein

In '12† Moscow, they say, was
suddenly set on fire from four sides
at once.

Rus, from end to end, shall
blaze with flames of insurrection!
the traitor Kurbsky cries in the Ivan
scenario.

And in the overture, prophetic
voices chant through the roar of the
rolling thunder:

On the bones of its foes
From the four corners of
the earth
The Russian realm . . .
Rises.

To set Moscow on fire exactly
that way or to do things exactly as
the historic Kurbsky put it is not
easy.

But there is one process which,
inevitably, just like that--at once, si-
multaneously, instantly--starts from
all corners, from every side. That is
--the process of film creation.

A finished film is a coordinated
and homologized assemblage of the

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