Alexander Nevsky(film)

For other uses, seeAlexander Nevsky (disambiguation).

Alexander Nevsky(Russian:Алекса́ндр Не́вский) is a 1938 Soviethistorical drama filmdirected bySergei Eisenstein.It depictsthe attempted invasionofNovgorodin the 13th century by theTeutonic Knightsof theHoly Roman Empireand their defeat by Prince Alexander, known popularly asAlexander Nevsky(1220–1263).

Alexander Nevsky
DVD cover
Directed by	Sergei Eisenstein Dmitri Vasilyev
Written by	Sergei Eisenstein Pyotr Pavlenko
Starring	Nikolay Cherkasov Nikolay Okhlopkov Andrei Abrikosov
Cinematography	Eduard Tisse
Edited by	Sergei M. Eisenstein Esfir Tobak
Music by	Sergei Prokofiev
Production company	Mosfilm
Distributed by	Amkino CorporationU.S.
Release date	1 December 1938(1938-12-01)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Eisenstein made the film in association withDmitri Vasilyevand with a script co-written withPyotr Pavlenko;they were assigned to ensure that Eisenstein did not stray into "formalism"and to facilitate shooting on a reasonable timetable. It was produced byGoskinovia theMosfilmproduction unit, withNikolai Cherkasovin the title role and a musical score bySergei Prokofiev.Alexander Nevskywas the first and most popular of Eisenstein's three sound films. Eisenstein, Pavlenko, Cherkasov andAbrikosovwere awarded theStalin Prizein 1941 for the film.

In 1978, the film was included in the world's 100 best motion pictures according to an opinion poll conducted by theItalianpublishing houseArnoldo Mondadori Editore.

Russia Beyondconsiders the film one of the 10 best Russian war films.

Plot

Alexander Nevsky(1938)

An army of theTeutonic Orderinvades and conquersthe city ofPskovwith the help of the traitor Tverdilo, and massacres its population. Novgorod is their next intended target.

Despite resistance from theboyarsand merchants of Novgorod (urged on by the monk Ananias, Tverdilo's henchman), an appeal is made to Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, to again become their prince and defend Novgorod. To do so he rallies the common people of the Novgorod area. In the decisiveBattle of the Ice,on the surface of frozenLake Chudskoe,the Teutonic forces are defeated. Pskov is retaken, and there Nevsky passes judgment: the surviving Teutonic foot-soldiers are set free, while the surviving Teutonic knights will be held for ransom. Tverdilo the traitor, together with a Catholic priest who blessed the burning alive of Pskov children, disappear as they are mobbed by the onlookers.

A subplot throughout is the rivalry and friendship ofVasili Buslaiand Gavrilo Oleksich, two famous (and historic) warriors of Novgorod. Both become commanders of the Novgorod forces, and are engaged in a contest of courage and fighting skill in order to decide which will win the hand of Olga Danilovna, a Novgorod maiden whom both are courting.

At the same time Vasilisa, daughter of a boyar of Pskov killed by the Teutons, joins the Novgorod forces as a soldier. She and Vasili wind up fighting side by side; she throws him a weapon when he is surrounded and weaponless, and it is she who finds and slays Ananias.

Gavrilo and Vasili are seriously wounded and are found by Olga, who retrieves them from the battlefield. Though they defer to each other, in the end Vasili publicly states that neither was the bravest in battle: that honor goes to Vasilisa, followed by Gavrilo. Thus Gavrilo and Olga are united while Vasili chooses Vasilisa as his bride-to-be (with her unspoken consent).

Cast

• Nikolay Cherkasovas PrinceAlexander Nevsky
• Nikolay OkhlopkovasVasili Buslaev
• Andrei Abrikosovas Gavrilo Oleksich
• Dmitry Orlovas Ignat, the master armorer
• Vasili Novikovas Pavsha, avoivodeof Pskov
• Nikolai Arskyas Domash Tverdislavich, a Novgorod boyar
• Varvara Massalitinovaas Amelfa Timoferevna, Buslay's Mother
• Valentina Ivashovaas Olga Danilovna, a maid of Novgorod
• Aleksandra Danilovaas Vasilisa, a maid of Pskov
• Vladimir YershovasHermann von Balk,the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
• Sergei Blinnikovas Tverdilo, the traitor of Pskov
• Ivan Lagutinas Anani, a Monk
• Lev Feninas the Archbishop
• Naum Rogozhinas the Black-Hooded Monk

1930s political context

Alexander (Nikolay Cherkasov) declines a Mongol ambassador's offer to join theGolden Horde

Eisenstein madeAlexander Nevsky,his first completed film in 10 years, during theStalinist era,at a time ofstrained relationsbetween theSoviet UnionandNazi Germany.The film contains elements of obviousallegorythat reflect the political situation between the two countries at the time of production. Some types of helmets worn by the Teutonic infantry resemble mock-ups ofStahlhelmsfromWorld War I.In the first draft of theAlexander Nevskyscript, swastikas even appeared on the invaders' helmets.The film portrays Alexander as afolk heroand shows him bypassing a fight with theMongols,his old foes, in order to face the more dangerous enemy.

The film also conveys highlyanti-clericalandanti-Catholicmessages.The knights' bishop's miter is adorned withswastikas,while religion plays a minor role on the Russian side, being present mostly as a backdrop in the form of Novgorod's St. Nicholas Cathedral and the clerics with theiriconsduring the victorious entry of Nevsky into the city after the battle.

The film stemmed from a literary scenario entitledRus,written byPyotr Pavlenko,a Soviet novelist who conformed tosocialist realistorthodoxy. The authorities could rely on Pavlenko, in his role of "consultant", to report any wayward tendencies on Eisenstein's part.

Alexander Nevskystresses as a central theme the importance of the common people in saving Russia, while portraying the nobles and merchants as "bourgeoisie" andenemies of the peoplewho do nothing, a motif that was heavily employed.

Teutonic knights take overPskov

While shooting the film, Eisenstein published an article in the officialnewspaper of recordIzvestiaentitled "Alexander Nevsky and the Rout of the Germans". He drew a specific parallel between Nevsky andStalin.As a result, the Kremlin requested an advance screening and, without Eisenstein being consulted, his assistants showed the footage to the General Secretary. During the process of this screening, one of the reels, which featured a scene depicting a brawl among the populace of Novgorod, disappeared.Whether it was left behind in the editing room inadvertently or whether Stalin saw the footage and objected to it, the filmmakers decided to destroy the reel permanently, since it had not received Stalin's explicit approval.

The picture was released in December 1938, and became a great success with audiences: on 15 April 1939, Semen Dukelsky – the chairman of the State Committee for Cinematography – reported that it had already been viewed by 23,000,000 people and was the most popular of the films made in recent times.

After 23 August 1939, when the USSR signed theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact,which provided for non-aggression and collusion between Germany and the Soviet Union,Alexander Nevskywas removed from circulation.However, the situation reversed dramatically on 22 June 1941 after the Axisinvasion of the Soviet Union,and the film rapidly returned to Soviet and western screens.

Style

Alexander Nevskyis less experimental in its narrative structure than Eisenstein's previous films; it tells one story with a single narrative arc and focuses on one main character. The special effects and cinematography were some of the most advanced at the time.

The film climaxes in the half-hourBattle of the Ice,propelled by Prokofiev's ominous, rousing, triumphant musical narrative, a sequence that has served as a model for epic movie battles ever since (e.g.,Henry V,Spartacus,The Empire Strikes Back). This climactic set piece was the first to be filmed and, since it was shot during a blazing hot summer on a location outside Moscow, cinematographer Eduard Tisse had to take extraordinary steps to render a wintry landscape, including: use of a filter to suggest winter light, painting all the trees light blue and dusting them with chalk, creating an artificial horizon out of sand, and constructing simulated ice sheets out of asphalt and melted glass, supported by floating pontoons that were deflated on cue so that the ersatz ice sheets would shatter under the weight of the Teutonic knights according to pre-cut patterns.

Musical score

Sergei Prokofiev

Video of performance of "Song about Alexander Nevsky", Section 2 ofAlexander Nevskycantata. Length: 2 min, 56 sec

Main article:Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)

The film was the first of Eisenstein's dramatic films to use sound. (The earlierBezhin Meadowhad also used sound, but production was shut down and most of the finished scenes were destroyed.) The film's score wascomposedbySergei Prokofiev,who later reworked the score into aconcert cantata.The creation ofAlexander Nevskywas a collaboration in the fullest sense of the word: some of the film was shot to Prokofiev's music and some of Prokofiev's music was composed to Eisenstein's footage.Prokofiev viewed the film's rough cut as the first step in composing its inimitable score. The strong and technically innovative collaboration between Eisenstein and Prokofiev in the editing process resulted in a match of music and imagery that remains a standard for filmmakers.Valery Gergiev,the principal conductor of theLondon Symphony Orchestra,has stated his opinion that Prokofiev's music for this film is "the best ever composed for the cinema".

Film and concerts

In the 1990s a new, cleaner print became available. A number of symphony orchestras gave performances of Prokofiev'scantata,synchronized with a showing of the new print. TheNew York Philharmonic,theDetroit Symphony Orchestra,theSan Francisco Symphony,thePhiladelphia Orchestra,and theBaltimore Symphony Orchestraare five such ensembles. The concerts were quite popular, because Prokofiev's music is badly degraded by the original soundtrack recording, which suffers from extremedistortionand limitedfrequency response,as well as cuts to the original score to fit scenes that had already been shot. The cantata not only restored cuts but considerably expanded parts of the score.

New editions of the film

In 1986, the film was restored. The film was cleared, the film studio logo was added, the captions were replaced (only the font, but not the content), the music was re-recorded byEmin Khachaturianconducting theState Symphony Cinema Orchestra.

In 1995, a new edition of the film was issued onVHSandlaserdisc,for which Prokofiev's score was entirely re-recorded inhi-fidigitalstereo byYuri Temirkanovconducting theSt. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestraand Chorus, although the dialogue portions of the soundtrack were left unchanged. This enabled a new generation to experience Eisenstein's film and Prokofiev's score in high fidelity, rather than having to settle for the badly recorded musical portion that had existed since the film's original release. There is no version of the re-recorded score available on DVD.

In popular culture

Multiple works have been influenced by or refer toAlexander Nevsky.

Films

• Scenes from the film were later incorporated into the American propaganda filmThe Battle of Russia(1943)
• Love and Death(1975), written and directed byWoody Allen,parodies Russian film and literature. The film used theAlexander Nevskyscore.
• Wizards(1977) uses stock footage from the film in its battle sequences, which were animated usingrotoscoping.
• Certain scenes inJohn Milius's fantasy epicConan the Barbarian(1982) were influenced byAlexander Nevsky.The introduction ofThulsa Doomand his henchmen after the destruction of Conan's village is reminiscent of the depiction of theGrand Master of the Teutonic Knightsand his fellow knights after the conquest ofPskov.With its score and choreography, the final ride and attack of the Riders of Doom against Conan resembles the Teutonic Order's cavalry approaching Nevsky in the Battle of Lake Peipus; also, the Enigma of Steel, a major theme of the Conan film, is already mentioned by Nevsky during the finalBattle of the Ice.
• InRed Dawn(1984), the marquee at the movie theater in occupied America is showing the film.
• Several additional films have scenes strongly influenced by the depiction of the Battle on the Ice, including:
  • Doctor Zhivago(1965)
  • Chimes at Midnight(1965)
  • Billion Dollar Brain(1967)
  • The Empire Strikes Back(1980)
  • Mulan(1998)
  • King Arthur(2004)

Literature

• Tom Clancy's novelRed Storm Rising(1986) depicts two American intelligence officers watchingAlexander Nevsky(on an unauthorized Soviet state television satellite feed) on the eve ofWorld War III.The officers take note of an improved sound track, as well as theanti-German sentimentand strong sense of Russian (as opposed to Soviet)nationalism.The next day, as part of a plot to split theNATOalliance politically,KGBagents detonate a bomb in theKremlin,killing a group of children fromPskov,and later arrest aWest Germansleeper agenton charges ofterrorism.
• Nevsky: Hero of the People(2012), a graphic novel adaptation of the film, was written byBen McCool,with art byMario Guevaraand published byIDW Publishing.

See also

• Ilya Muromets(film)

External links

• Alexander Nevsky(Full HD)YouTube Киноконцерн "Мосфильм" channel
• Alexander NevskyatIMDb
• Alexander NevskyatAllMovie
• Alexander Nevskyat theTCM Movie Database
• Alexander NevskyatRotten Tomatoes
• Alexander Nevskyan essay byJ. Hobermanat theCriterion Collection
• Alexander Nevskyat officialMosfilmsite with English subtitles