Alexander Nevsky is a 1938 Soviet historical drama film directed by Sergei Eisenstein. It depicts the attempted invasion of Novgorod in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire and their defeat by Prince Alexander, known popularly as Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263).
DVD cover
Alexander (Nikolay Cherkasov) declines a Mongol ambassador's offer to join the Golden Horde
Teutonic knights take over Pskov
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. He was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1925), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1928), as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible. In its 2012 decennial poll, the magazine Sight & Sound named his Battleship Potemkin the 11th-greatest film of all time.
Eisenstein c. 1920s
The young Sergei with his parents Mikhail and Julia Eisenstein
With Japanese kabuki actor Sadanji Ichikawa II, Moscow, 1928
Eisenstein in 1939