alexander nevsky film analysis

Socialist realism had become enshrined as the appropriate working method and style and was intended to produce “images that are made with the purpose of helping along a desirable reality” (1), having put an end to the artistic experimentation of the early years. Alexander Nevsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Не́вский) is a 1938 historical drama film directed by Sergei Eisenstein. Sergei Prokofievturned his … Like other examples of socialist realism, Alexander Nevsky sets up the clearly unacceptable but earnestly expressed policy of appeasement, as well as the “reality” of German superiority, early on so that it can dramatically expose this proposition to be false throughout the rest of the film. But colourful and reasoned oratory from peasants and seasoned warriors offer the correct solution. Alexander Nevsky Eisenstein drew on history, Russian folk narratives, and the techniques of Walt Disney to create this broadly painted epic of Russian resilience. Click here to make a donation. Essential differences are highlighted between the Russians and the Teutonic knights in much the same way that traditional folktales construct the distinctions between good and evil. After the sacking of Pskov, the townsfolk of Novgorod meet in the town square to hear a wounded knight’s story of the German attack. He honours the fallen Russian soldiers, deals out popular justice to the traitors and the knights (swapping them for soap! Alexander Nevsky (1938) is a brilliant piece of cinematic propaganda. Propaganda in the Soviet Union was not considered an invective. argues a warrior. This gives Alexander an idea, and he divides his forces into three. The construction and staging of this complex scene represented an enormous achievement in special effects. He leads from the front but listens to the peasants’ folk wisdom. The scenes of the sacking of Pskov are astonishing in the efficiency of the shots, the carnage and realistic violence made more striking by the solemn editing. When the Soviets signed a non-aggression pact with Germany in August 1939 the film was removed from circulation domestically and internationally, and then rushed back onto screens in 1941 after the German invasion. In ordered to unite the warring, rival Princes in the Russian Realm, Nevsky takes charge and fights the lesser of two … It's terrific. Back in Novgorod, news arrives of the Teutonic knights' capture of nearby Pskov, causing panic. Alexander Nevsky, who had recently defeated the Swedes and is held in high esteem by the Mongols, agrees and forms a unity army of peasants to attack the Germans. While preparing for battle Alexander hears an old soldier’s tale about a fox who is chasing a hare buts gets caught between two birch trees. 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Throughout the 1930s, relations between the USSR and Germany were in a constant state of flux. Prince Alexander is the ultimate folk epic action hero – he is brave and strong, yet kind and wise. The film was designed to mobilise and bring confidence to the worldwide struggle against fascism. The battle that ensued was very famously depicted in the amazing 1938 film Alexander Nevsky, and the already epic battle scene is even more impressive when you consider that it was filmed in the desert in the middle of the summer, and Director Sergei Eisenstein had to use blue spray paint and melted glass to make … Pointedly, the graphic structure of infinite upright spears in a sea of ordered warriors is clearly borrowed from the crowd scenes in Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will, Leni Riefenstahl, 1935). ), and oversees the merrymaking. Worsening relations between Nazi Germany and the U.S.S.R. decided Stalin to sponsor a film about Alexander Nevsky, a thirteenth century prince of Novgorod, who routed Swedish invaders in 1240 at the river Neva (hence his name) and two years later defeated a horde of Teutonic Knights at Lake Chud (aka Peipus), on … Lest you be distracted from their malevolence by laughing at their hair, the Germans make a big show of chopping peasants to bits and slinging babies into bonfires. Alexander Nevsky, a prince of Novgorod, defeated the German invaders at the Battle of the Ice on 5 April 1242. The lighting is high-key with bleached peasant huts, white cityscapes and broad expanses of sky marking an endless horizon with only the costume design providing detail. The film depicts the attempted invasion of Novgorod in the 13th century by The Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire and their defeat by the Russian people, led by Prince Alexander, known popularly as Alexander Nevsky. The film opens in a rural setting, with Prince Alexander toiling away in an implausible fashion among the fishermen. This story of Teutonic knights vanquished by Prince Alexander Nevsky… Had Eisenstein been allowed free rein, it might have done better. This one was made in the state-mandated socialist realist style, with safeguards (in the form of watchful colleagues) put in place to stop Eisenstein straying into … It was a decisive victory however, and halted the medieval drang nach osten of the Germans along the Baltic coast. Resonant political themes of the 1930s were clearly pronounced and connected effortlessly with such folkloric elements as the essential unity of the peasants with the land and its protection, and the need for a strong leader to deliver the people from their fear and immanent destruction and courageously face the enemy who dares to invade Russia. The battle emphasises the physical power of the Russian soldiers who prefer axes and large poles to conventional weapons and where women are no less daring than the men. It was the first of Eisenstein’s sound film. This seemingly simple period drama cleverly combines action and romance, a heroic quest, and socialist realism with a bloodthirsty and, yet, deeply emotional national folktale. He refuses. Alexander adopts this animal husbandry tale of the weak turning the tables on the strong as his military strategy. After an initial scuffle, Alexander lures the Germans onto the melting ice of Lake Chudskoe where the majority of the heavily armored knights drown. When the Germans headed into Soviet-occupied Poland two years later, it was revived to enormous acclaim. Meanwhile, the corrupt capitalist merchants don't want war. However, there is much else to recommend in Eisenstein’s film. While Alexander's army prepares for the Battle on the Ice, one soldier tells a rude story about a fox getting caught between two trees, leaving it liable to be, as the subtitles gingerly put it, "deflowered" by a hare. The image is crisp, and the landscape broad, uncluttered and elemental. Eisenstein bunged it in to make the parallels with the Nazis more obvious. In real life, Alexander did enter into a controversial alliance with Batu Khan, leader of the Horde and grandson of Genghis Khan. Alexander Nevsky is widely celebrated for its astounding 30-minute “Battle on the Ice” sequence that influenced a generation of filmmakers in constructing historical battles. Though Alexander did come into conflict with the aristocratic boyar class, that conflict certainly wasn't about proletarian revolution or the redistribution of wealth – concepts approximately as authentic to the 13th century as the lava lamp. It is impossible to view this film set in the thirteenth century outside of the context of the history of its production in the late 1930s. The hare solemnly asks the stuck fox, “Do you want me to deflower you?” The fox begs for mercy but the hare deflowers her anyway. Michelle Carey • Daniel Fairfax • Fiona Villella • César Albarrán-Torres. Nearby Novgorod is the last remaining free city in Russia and after some fierce debate the citizens decide to summon Prince Alexander to protect their city and free the nation. "With the Germans on one side and the Horde on the other, caught we will be between two fires!" The people of Russia are threatened by two major enemies, the Mongols and the Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire. The film was pulled from cinemas. Alexander Nevsky (cantata) The cantata for Alexander Nevsky debuted in Moscow on May 17, 1939. © 2021 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. In 1242, a few years after the invasion by the Mongols, the German Teutonic Knights attack a weakened Russia from the West and decimate the city of Pskov with the assistance of various traitors. There was also an earlier Bulgarian Order dedicated to Saint Alexander which was founded on 25 December 1881, which ceased to exist … (In order to deal with the Knights, he foregoes a campaign against the Mongols.) On that Russia stands and will stand forever!”. Alexander Nevsky is justly lauded for its organisation of spectacle during the magnificent battle on the ice sequence.The rhythmic cutting between long shots and close-ups, the dynamic composition and the mobile camera carry what is largely 37 minutes of dialoguefree scrapping. Greg Dolgopolov is a lecturer in Film Studies at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. [citation needed] The U.S. premiere was conducted by Leopold Stokowski in 1943. The knights are presented as invincible in their effortless conquest of Pskov through the employment of technological superiority, outlandish helmet decorations, merciless destruction and the cunning use of traitors. During the Great Patriotic War, on 29 July 1942, the Soviet authorities introduced an Order of Alexander Nevsky to revive the memory of Alexander's struggle with the Germans. One will draw the crusaders on to the fragile ice, then the other two will attack from each side, trapping the Germans in the middle so that he may, er, "deflower" them. cries one brave proletarian. "Better go willingly, you moneyed men," snarls another, "otherwise the peasants will crush your bones." This thin allegorical veneer dismisses the easy assignation of propaganda and allows viewers to explore the film as a folk epic with its cast of legendary characters and established narrative structure. The great popularity of Eisenstein's film, which was released on 1 December 1938, may have prompted Prokofiev to create a concert version of the music in the winter of 1938–39. Admittedly, this was not formalised until 10 years after the Battle of the Ice, but the film's implication that he turfed the Mongols out is deliberately misleading. Commissioned as a historical drama to raise patriotic consciousness in response to Germany’s increasing belligerence, it became a political talisman. Propaganda in the Soviet Union was not considered an invective. Eisenstein and Prokofiev carried out a collaboration that meant a crucial step forward in the field of musical composition for the screen. But it is never that simple: unexpectedly the Germans are robed in white cloaks while the Russians appear in dark shades (emphasising their earthiness?). All rights reserved.

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