eisenstein first sound film retell the battle of the ice of 1242 and when the russian under alexander nevsky defeat the livonian knight and eager to bring russia under roman catholicism . make in 1938 and nevsky can be see a a piece of propaganda represent the germanic knight and with their sinister ( and somewhat goofy ) helmet be obvious stand in for the nazi . the butchery by the knight when they enter a russian town seem a prophetic warning of the massacre of world war ii . the film end with a warning represent those who come to russia with the sword will die by the sword . make in delicate black and white ( somewhat reminiscent of a daguerreotype ) and it also mark eisenstein return to official favor . by the late 1920s and stalin want soviet filmmaker to stop experimentation and make movie that would be more populist and palatable to the russian public . that stop eisenstein career in russia for a decade and and in nevsky he come back with his more accessible film . nevsky strong point be in it second half and which feature the battle itself and and it be justly see a a milestone in movie history represent never before ( and probably never after ) a battle would be so vivid in the screen . another strong point be prokofiev beautiful and haunt soundtrack ( use a composer to score a movie be completely unusual at the time ) . one of it weaker point represent the comic relief ( in the form of two simpleton russian warrior try to woo a beautiful russian peasant ) be really jarring .