#87: EISENSTEIN, Sergei: Alexander Nevsky (1938)

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EISENSTEIN: THE SOUND YEARS {Spine #86} [1938-58]
OOP

EISENSTEIN, Sergei (Soviet Union)
Alexander Nevsky [1938]
Spines #87
DVD
OOP


Eisenstein drew on history, Russian folk narratives, and the techniques of Walt Disney to create this broadly painted epic of Russian resilience. This story of Teutonic knights vanquished by Prince Alexander Nevsky's tactical brilliance resonated deeply with a Soviet Union concerned with the rise of Nazi Germany. Widely imitated — most notably by Laurence Olivier's Battle of Agincourt re-creation for Henry V — the Battle on the Ice scene remains one of the most famous audio-visual experiments in film history, perfectly blending action with the rousing score of Sergei Prokofiev.

112 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in Russian
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2001

Director/Writers

Eisentein was 40 when he directed Alexander Nevsky, with the collaboration of Dmitri Vasiliev.

Other Eisenstein films in the Collection:

#88: Ivan The Terrible, Parts I & II (1945/1958)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Six-page wraparound featuring an essay by J. Hoberman.

Commentary

None.

Audio essay

By film scholar David Bordwell, author of The Cinema of Eisenstein.

Multimedia essay

By Russell Merritt on the Eisenstein-Prokofiev collaboration.

Bezhin Meadow

A reconstruction of Eisenstein’s unfinished film, by the Eisenstein Museum’s Naum Kleiman, plus scholar Jay Leyda’s photos and documents from the set.

Drawings and production stills

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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