Aleksandr Nevskiy

Eisenstein had long been a thorn in the side of party critics. In addition to offences such as ‘artistic errors’ like ‘formalism’ and “intellectualism”, he was suspected of being a ‘radical leftist’. His first sound film, Alexander Nevsky (whose entire production process was monitored by overseers), reads like an act of revision. Instead of a fragmented fable: a linear heroic story. Instead of the masses as protagonists: a radiant, blond folk hero. In the finale, the battle on the frozen Lake Peipus to the roaring music of Prokofiev. The final victory of the good (Russian warriors) over the evil (German Teutonic Knights). The German knights appear like grotesque reptiles or parts of a gigantic machine of destruction in their pot helmets, white coats and white regalia. Terror as geometry and ornament. The target is clear: Nazi fascism. (H.T.)