What to expect
Eisenstein organises armour, faces, landscape, montage, and Prokofiev’s score into monumental blocks of feeling. The battle on the ice remains a landmark of audiovisual construction as well as a work inseparable from Soviet state mythmaking.
How to ease in
Listen for how the music identifies forces before the battle begins. During the long central conflict, follow changes in rhythm and scale rather than trying to identify every fighter.
Heads-up
A thirteenth-century prince is called back to defend Novgorod against an invading Teutonic army.
The helmets frighten me before any weapon moves. Eisenstein makes the invaders look like a single machine, then lets the ice turn that certainty into weight, fracture, and panic.
Open the note ↓
The helmets frighten me before any weapon moves. Eisenstein makes the invaders look like a single machine, then lets the ice turn that certainty into weight, fracture, and panic.
— Momo
Credits & versions
- Cast
- Nikolai Cherkasov — Prince Alexander Nevsky · Nikolai Okhlopkov — Vasily Buslai · Andrei Abrikosov — Gavrilo Olexich · Dmitri Orlov — Ignat, Master Armorer
- Screenplay
- Sergei Eisenstein · Pyotr Pavlenko
- Cinematography
- Eduard Tisse
Version map
Where to go next
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