Political Subtext
Alexander Nevsky was the first film completed by Eisenstein in 10 years. It was made during the Stalinist era, when the Soviet Union was at odds with Nazi Germany. The film contains obvious allegory that reflect the political situation between the two countries at the time it was produced. Some types of helmets worn by the Teutonic infantries resemble mock-ups of Stahlhelms from World War I in order to resemble German-style kettle hats. Emphasizing grasping eagle talons or animal horns and covering the entire face except for a narrow full-face slit for eyes which cannot be seen on the Teutonic knights' helmets. "In the first draft of the Alexander Nevsky script, swastikas even appeared in the invaders' helmets". The film portrays Alexander as a folk hero and shows him bypassing a fight with the Mongols, his old enemies, in order to face the more dangerous enemy.
The film is also highly anti-clerical and anti-Catholic. This is highlighted by the fact that the knights' bishop's miter is adorned by swastikas, while religion plays a minor role on the Russian side, being present mostly as a backdrop in the form of Novgorod's St. Nicholas Cathedral and the clerics with their icons during the victorious entry of Nevsky into the city after the battle.
The project was based on a literary scenario entitled Rus, written by Pyotr Pavlenko, a Soviet novelist who conformed to socialist realist orthodoxy and, in his role of "consultant", could be relied upon to report any wayward tendencies on Eisenstein's part to the authorities.
It made a central theme the importance of the common people in saving Russia, while portraying the nobles and merchants as "bourgeoisie" and enemies of the people who do nothing, a motif that was heavily employed.
While shooting the film, Eisenstein published an article in the official newspaper of record Izvestia entitled "Alexander Nevsky and the Rout of the Germans," drawing a specific parallel between Nevsky and Stalin. As a result, the Kremlin requested an advance screening and, without Eisenstein being consulted, his assistants showed the footage to the dictator and, during the process of this screening, one of the reels, which featured a scene depicting a brawl among the populace of Novgorod, disappeared. Whether it was left behind in the editing room inadvertently or whether Stalin saw the footage and objected to it, the filmmakers decided to destroy the reel permanently, since it had not received Stalin's explicit approval.
The picture was released in December 1938, and became a great success with audiences: on 15 April 1939, Semen Dukelsky - the chairman of the State Committee for Cinematography - reported that it was already viewed by 23,000,000 people and was the most popular from the films made in recent time.
On 23 August 1939, as Stalin entered into the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which provided for non-aggression and collusion between Germany and the Soviet Union, Alexander Nevsky was removed from circulation. But the situation was reversed dramatically on 22 June 1941 after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and the film was rapidly returned to Soviet and western screens.
Read more about this topic: Alexander Nevsky (film)
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