History Film / AlexanderNevsky

* HateSink: The entire army of the Teutonic Knights, since they slaughter innocent civilians and throw crying toddlers into bonfire. Grand Master in particular since he is their leader is this.
** The Bishop counts too. He might not directly ordered the crimes, but he gave his blessings to them.

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AlexanderNevsky.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:240:''"Go tell all in foreign lands that Rus lives!"'']]

* ChristianityIsCatholic: Orthodox Christianity is almost completely absent from the movie. Only in the end does Prince Alexander pay a visit to the Archbishop of Novgorod. Russian churches have no crosses on top, Russian banners represent some fantastic beasts (in reality, they would feature an icon of Christ), and there are no priests in Alexander's army. Essentially, medieval Russians as portrayed by Eisenstein are either pagans or [[HollywoodAtheist non-Hollywood Atheists]]. Why, you ask? Two words: ExecutiveMeddling.

''Alexander Nevsky'' (Russian: ''Александр Невский'') is a 1938 Soviet {{epic|movie}} historical drama film directed by Creator/SergeiEisenstein, also known for ''Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin'' and ''Film/IvanTheTerrible''. Sergei Prokofiev composed the soundtrack, and it stars Creator/NikolayCherkasov in the title role.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: Vasiliy pulls this off [[UpToEleven in the middle of the battle]].

* SpitefulSpit: Gavrilo Olexich does this to one Teutonic knight before putting an ax in his neck.

* TinTyrant: The Grand Master and the higherups in the Knights wear horned or decorated helmets that would make a fantasy BlackKnight proud.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: Orthodox Christianity is almost completely absent from the movie. Only in the end does Prince Alexander pay a visit to the Archbishop of Novgorod. Russian churches have no crosses on top, Russian banners represent some fantastic beasts (in reality, they would feature an icon of Christ), and there are no priests in Alexander's army. Essentially, mediaeval Russians as portrayed by Eisenstein are either pagans or [[HollywoodAtheist non-Hollywood Atheists]]. Why, you ask? Two words: ExecutiveMeddling.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Ignat the blacksmith notes that the chainmail shirt he giot is too short. He notes the same thing after [[spoiler:he's stabbed in a neck by a prisoner]].

[[caption-width-right:240:"Go tell all in foreign lands that Rus lives!"]]

-->"Let all come and be our guests. But he who comes to us sword in hand, by the sword shall he perish. On this Rus stands and will forever stand."

It is worth noting that because the movie was made during the [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalinist]] regime, it also contains quite a few Soviet political subtexts, such as the anti-religious, anti-German stance of the communist government of that time and the portrayal of Nevsky as a wise and courageous leader―reflecting how Stalin had himself portrayed during his "cult of personality" campaign. Unfortunately for Eisenstein, the film debuted just months before the non-aggression treaty between [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the USSR]] and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, and he was forced to pull the movie from theaters―until the German invasion of Russia in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 1941]], after which it was hurried into theaters again. The film is considered an excellent work and enjoyed great success and continuing influence both in and outside the Soviet Union/Russia.

* PuttingOnTheReich: The helmets worn by the Teutonic soldiers resemble exaggerated versions of German soldiers' ''Stahlhelm'' from the 20th century. And the archbishop wears a mitre [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Nevski5.jpg with swastikas!]] Quite possibly the earliest example of the trope (five years after ThoseWackyNazis took power).

* [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe Ye Old Butcherede Russhyanne]]: All the Russian characters speak faux Old Russian, sometimes bordering on [[YouNoTakeCandle Yoda Speak]]. Unusual word order have the English subtitles on [=DVD=].

''Alexander Nevsky'' (Russian: ''Александр Невский'') is a 1938 Soviet historical drama film directed by Creator/SergeiEisenstein, also known for ''Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin'' and ''Film/IvanTheTerrible''. It stars Creator/NikolayCherkasov in the title role.

* CanisLatinicus: The OminousLatinChanting that serves as a {{leitmotif}} for the Teutonic Knights is a Word Salad that was [[https://caneweb.org/new/?p=3787 made up by Sergei Prokofiev and Vladimir Lugovskoy]].

* CanisLatinicus: The chanting that serves as a {{leitmotif}} for the Teutonic Knights is [[https://caneweb.org/new/?p=3787 pseudo-Latin that was made up by Sergei Prokofiev and Vladimir Lugovskoy]].

* OminousLatinChanting: Scenes with the Teutonic Knights are accompanied by a sinister Latin chorus, which rises in a crescendo during the battle scene, to indicate that the Teutons were evil Catholics fighting the good-guy Russians. Prokofiev's scoring for this scene sounds similar enough to Carl Orff's ''Carmina Burana'' to have inspired, perhaps, the use of "''O Fortuna''" in subsequent movies. (The Orff piece was written earlier ―- by '''one''' year.) The chanted words "''Peregrinus expectavi pedes meos in cymbalis''" are themselves snipped from various places in Igor Stravinsky's ''A Symphony of Psalms'', quite possibly as a subtle TakeThat to his contemporary. Prokofiev evidently realized that practically no-one in the audience would know Latin: the assembled chant is WordSalad meaning something like "A pilgrim -- I awaited -- my feet -- on the cymbals."

* PropRecycling: The distinctive helmets worn by the Knights reappear even after one wearer has been killed.

-->"Let all come and be our guests. But he who comes to us sword in hand, by the sword shall he perish. On this Russia stands and will forever stand."

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe Ye Old Butcherede Russhyanne]] : All the Russian characters speak faux Old Russian, sometimes bordering on [[YouNoTakeCandle Yoda Speak]]. Unusual word order have the English subtitles on [=DVD=].

* BadassBeard: Alexander, and, what the heck, almost the entire Russian army.

''Alexander Nevsky'' (Russian: ''Александр Невский'') is a 1938 Soviet historical drama film directed by Creator/SergeiEisenstein, also known for ''Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin'' and ''Film/IvanTheTerrible''.

** Prince Alexander was a very shrewd politician who spent most of his life feuding with other Russian princes. Also, he submitted to the Mongols and paid tribute to them after seeing them obliterate nearly every other russian state - in fact, the army he led against the Teutonics did include some mongol cavalry. The film -- following a [[OlderThanTheyThink tradition]] much older than Stalinism -- focuses on his younger years.

''Alexander Nevsky'' (Russian: ''Александр Невский'') is a 1938 historical drama film directed by Creator/SergeiEisenstein, also known for ''Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin'' and ''Film/IvanTheTerrible''.

It is worth noting that because the movie was made during the Stalinist regime, it also contains quite a few Soviet political subtexts, such as the anti-religious, anti-German stance of the communist government of that time and the portrayal of Nevsky as a wise and courageous leader―reflecting how Stalin had himself portrayed during his "cult of personality" campaign. Unfortunately for Eisenstein, the film debuted just months before the non-aggression treaty between the USSR and Nazi Germany, and he was forced to pull the movie from theaters―until the German invasion of Russia in 1941, after which it was hurried into theaters again. The film is considered an excellent work and enjoyed great success and continuing influence both in and outside the Soviet Union.

[[caption-width-right:240:"Go tell all in foreign lands that Russia lives!"]]

* BigBad: Hermann von Balk, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights invading Russia.

* DueToTheDead: A lengthy sequence after the battle pans over the Russian dead, with some of them calling out the names of their loved ones with their dying breaths, with the lyrics on the soundtrack being an ode to those who gave their lives for the freedom of Russia.

* MedievalMorons: Boldly subverted, despite the fact that Soviet cultural conventions of the time basically ''required'' Old Russia to be portrayed as a [[TheDungAges Dung Age]] filled with superstitious nitwits.

* TheSociopath: Grand Master Hermann von Balk, a fanatic who is willing to slaughter villages and personally throw babies into fires to conquer Russia.