Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Directed by Russian film pioneer Sergei Eisenstein this historical drama has had a strong influence on film makers that have followed. With the Germans at the gates of Novogord a Russian prince rallies the troupes to defender his country.
Making films in Hollywood is often tough with many outside forces at work but in Stalinist Russia artistic control is something that is right out the window. While the film essentially focuses on the historic Battle of the Ice in reality history is thrown out in favour of a communist propaganda piece to rouse up anti German feelings against any potential invasion. The film may contain what were technological advances at the time but when viewing this as a modern audience there are some real problems such as the original sound recording being a bit diabolical, the acting not up to much and the aforementioned perversion of history. When you compare this film to what Hollywood was knocking out only a year later in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Stagecoach (1939) it is interesting to see how far behind soviet film making was.
2/5
No comments:
Post a Comment