#427: alexander nevsky
when quality filmmaking and naked propaganda meet
alexander nevsky (1938, d. sergei eisenstein): when a film is made, what is it saying? what story does it tell? who does it tell it to, and why? can it serve a purpose? should it? alexander nevsky is a film that raises exactly these questions. directed by sergei eisenstein, whose 1925 film battleship potemkin was a landmark in filmmaking, nevsky serves a dual role in being a depiction of the invasion of novgorod by the teutonic knights of the holy roman empire, while also being a powerful propaganda piece, a call to arms for the people of the soviet union in the last days before nazi germany would begin its conquest of europe. (in a twist of irony, when the 1939 molotov-ribbentrop pact was signed, the movie was removed from circulation, only to be swiftly re-released following nazi germany’s 1941 invasion of the soviet union.)
nevsky never aspires to be anything more than it is: a historical drama. directed in the socialist realism style that dominated filmmaking in communist bloc nations for half a century, it tells the rather simple story of the prince of novgorod in the 13th century who rallies his people together to fight an invasion of german knights, who have one goal: slaughter everyone who doesn’t convert to roman catholicism on the spot.
where nevsky succeeds, however, is in terms of scale, scope and effects; eisenstein has a sense of scale that cecil b. demille would appreciate, culminating in a breathtaking 30-minute battle sequence in which an army of ordinary russians faces off against the elite troops of the teutonic knights — and wins. shot in high summer, the production crew went to absurd lengths to make the battle seem like it was in the dead of winter, going so far as to create fake ice on pontoons that would deflate on cue so the “ice” would crack apart and dunk the knights into the water.
but its purpose as a comissioned propaganda piece cannot be understated. aside from the core element of the film being that of victory against an aggressor achieved from collective will and cooperation, it positions itself as not just a period piece, but as a reflection of history on the contemporary period. in 2022, nearly a century removed from its political context, it might seem like a mere curiosity to the unaware viewer; but in 1938, what it was saying about nazi germany was screamingly obvious. many of the knights bore swastikas; the sacking of pskov culminates in the city’s children thrown onto a pyre, an act sanctioned by the roman catholic church, or at least its representatives. it’s a film with all the subtlety of a bomb.
but all that is academic. regardless of its intended audience, it maintains a sense of universality because its ultimate message of cooperation, its lantern-jawed heroes, and its subtle sleight-of-hand in producing a seemingly invincible enemy only to dismantle that image all resonate with audiences still.
alexander nevsky is a movie about a world and society that no longer exists, made by a country that no longer exists, to talk shit about another country that no longer exists. and it’s a pretty good movie.
