Alexander Nevsky (1938)

Director: Sergei Eisenstein, Dmitri Vasilyev Cinematographer: Eduard Tisse

While his ideas for his previous project Bezhin Meadows ran into opposition from a Russian industry and government looking towards social realism rather than experiments with montage, Eisenstein had far more success with Alexander Nevsky, which coincided with Stalin’s need for nationalist propaganda against the threat of German invasion. The director’s first realised sound film and his first completed production for ten years, the historical epic depicts the attempted invasion of Novgorod in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire and their defeat by Prince Alexander, known popularly as Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263). With only sparse dialogue and sound effects, the film’s emotional intensity comes from expressive camera movement, the brilliant use of montage and one of sound film’s great scores from Prokofiev (Eisenstein even re-edited sequences to fit in with the music).

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DVD
Eisenstein: The Sound Years (Ivan the Terrible Parts 1 & 2 / Alexander Nevsky) (The Criterion Collection) DVD
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (cantata) / Pushkiniana (orchestral suite) CD
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky & Lt. Kije (CD)
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky / Scythian Suite (CD)

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Lists:

• • No. 423 on The Pendragon Society’s 1000 Greatest Films of All-Time (2019)
  • No. 1 on Russia Beyond’s 10 best Russian war movies (2018)

CAST

• Nikolay Cherkasov as Prince Alexander Nevsky
• Nikolay Okhlopkov as Vasili Buslaev
• Andrei Abrikosov as Gavrilo Oleksich
• Dmitry Orlov as Ignat, the master armorer
• Vasili Novikov as Pavsha, a voivode of Pskov
• Nikolai Arsky as Domash Tverdislavich, a Novgorod boyar
• Varvara Massalitinova as Amelfa Timoferevna, Buslay’s Mother
• Valentina Ivashova as Olga Danilovna, a maid of Novgorod
• Aleksandra Danilova as Vasilisa, a maid of Pskov
• Vladimir Yershov as Hermann von Balk, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
• Sergei Blinnikov as Tverdilo, the traitor of Pskov
• Ivan Lagutin as Anani, a Monk
• Lev Fenin as the Archbishop
• Naum Rogozhin as the Black-Hooded Monk

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Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by Alec Coppel, Samuel Taylor
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography Robert Burks
Edited by George Tomasini
Running time 128 minutes
Country United States
Language English