this be one of those movie where you have to put to one side some of it obvious shortcoming ( a result of the date and location of it production ) and accentuate the positive . in many way this be a truly superb film . forgive the parody in the one line summary and but the most serious shortcoming for an english speaker like me be the ghastly subtitle . the print i saw have 1982 soviet film export subtitle and which consistently use inverted grammar and presumably to give the impression of 13th century speech . the actual impact of this nonsense be to make it hard to follow the subtitle which mean you spend less time look at the image . give that the cinematographic imagery be this films great strength and this be a real issue . other imdb niks have write plenty about the stalinist propaganda element of this film ( just in case the viewer doesn not notice them for him or herself ) . they have also write plenty about the battle on the ice scene and which be superb in my view . the love interest almost totally lacks subtlety and yet strangely . almost totally lacks charm also . but it be good to cringe every now and then . i be familiar with the prokofiev music to this film long before see the film . the image and the music complement each other marvelously . and it be the image that will stick in the mind for a long time . bergman clearly learn a lot from these image the imagery of his medieval piece ( e. g. the seventh seal and the virgin spring ) building upon and enhance eisenstein idea . this film be make in 1938 in the ussr . in that context it be a masterpiece and albeit a flawed one . for the modern viewer and i suggest that you go with the flow and enjoy the many treat on show .