Alexander Nevsky (1938) review

Rousing film of a battle between the Russians and invading Teutonic warriors, led by the brave title character that is emblematic of Nietzsche's superman and lives to conquer. Eisenstein's technique is beyond excellence: he eliminates the clouds from his skies and then tilts his camera so the giant blank horizon looms large over the tiny soldiers; even during the battle scenes, it looks like the soldiers are attacking the cameramen instead of each other. Like a lot (if not most) of the early Russian films, it also works as propaganda, with the Germans being a target of the rage. Everything from the costumes to the precise cutting was done with craftsman-like precision - like Vertov and Pudovkin, the content is less important than the presentation, but with such mind-boggling visionary cinematic appeal, who am I to complain?