Alexander the Crusader
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Alexander the Crusader |
| Original title | Александр. Невская битва |
| Country of production | Russia |
| original language | Russian |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Igor Kaljonov |
| script | Vladimir Wardunas |
| production |
Rüstm İbrahimbəyov Alija Uwalschanowa |
| music | Andrei Antonenko |
| camera | Valery Martynov |
| occupation | |
| |
Alexander the Crusader , also 1240 - The Battle of the Neva , is a Russian historical film by Igor Kaljonow from 2008. The film is based on true events and depicts the years 1239 and 1240 in the life of the Prince of Novgorod and Russian national hero Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky until the Battle of the Neva on July 15, 1240.
action
Prince Alexander of Novgorod rules in difficult times. Mongols , Germans , Swedes and the local boyars threaten his city. During a reconnaissance trip to the east, the knight Andreas von Velven and his entourage are attacked by robbers. Impressed by his will to fight, Alexander saves his life. He doesn't know that he saved his enemy from death because Andreas von Velven is a crusader of the Teutonic Order and is preparing a planned crusade against the Russians.
Knight von Velven intrigues in Novgorod together with the rebellious boyars. These are to create a map of the Neva with suitable storage areas in order to prepare an attack on Novgorod. Thereupon von Velven disappeared. A little later, Alexander is on their way to the wedding party with his bride Alexandra and his entourage. His best friend Ratmir is also secretly in love with Alexandra and therefore jealous. When they meet a stranger named Vyacheslav on the roadside, who has just killed a bear with just his dagger, they take him and the animal with them. During the celebration Ratmir has an argument with the butcher, otherwise there is a lot of drinking and eating. When the mute court jester Kornili discovers that someone is dripping poison into the shared wine goblet and that there is an arrowhead in the bear meat, he tries to draw Alexander's attention with wild gesticulations. But he doesn't understand him. After Alexander prepares the goblet to drink, Kornili rushes towards him, snatches the vessel from him and drinks it. Shortly afterwards, the jester dies due to the poisoning and the butcher is also found dead. Alexander calls his men together to expose the assassin. Since Ratmir has disappeared without a trace, suspicion falls on him.
Meanwhile, knight Andreas von Velven arrives in Sweden and meets with King Erik . He reports on the map of the Neva that is being prepared and offers it to him. Von Velven uses the Swedes for his own purposes, knowing full well that Erik is also planning a crusade against Russia. King Erik is delighted to accept this offer. The Bishop of Riga sends two monks who call on Alexander to give up the Orthodox faith, which the latter resolutely rejects. Ratmir reappears too. Although he protests his innocence, Alexander has him locked up. Alexander learns of the boyars' planned handover of cards to the two monks and reveals the intrigue. Before killing the two boyar traitors, he forces them to hand over the card as intended to keep the Swedes safe. Furthermore, the prince is shown the arrowhead from the bear meat, which reveals the real assassin. He has Vyacheslav, who is actually called Dmitri and is the son of an enemy of Alexander's father, arrested. Ratmir is released again, but the friendship is broken.
After the boyars have freed Dmitri, he travels to Sweden and is knighted there by Erik. Thus he will take part in the crusade against Novgorod. When the Swedes set up camp on the Neva, Alexander led his army into the battle of the Neva on July 15, 1240 . While Ratmir can kill Dmitri, he dies himself. The completely surprised Swedes suffer a crushing defeat. Prince Alexander has been a popular hero since then and is nicknamed Nevsky because of the Battle of the Neva.
background
While the English title Alexander: The Neva Battle , in German Alexander: Die Schlacht an der Neva , takes into account the original Russian title, the film is shown and sold in Germany under the misleading title Alexander the Crusader . However, Alexander was not a crusader. He fought the crusaders to the utmost and therefore rose to become the Russian national hero. In September 2014 the film was re-released in German with the title 1240 - The Battle of the Neva .
Reviews
"The story, which was staged in an effective and gripping manner by Sergej Eisenstein in 1938, is now tending towards historical action films with an overhang of battle scenes, with the equipment clearly suffering from the low budget."
“More action film and adventure vacillations than the deadly serious classic, if you focus on the fight against Sweden, in order to possibly add the (more spectacular) against the Germans in a second part. How late revenge, however, the German title - the fight against crusaders! "
Web links
- Alexander the Crusaders in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Alexander the Crusader in the online movie database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander the Crusader. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Alexander the Crusader ( Memento from November 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) on video.de