Original title: Zvenyhora
Copyright: VUFKU, Odesa, 1927; the 1973 edition is Mosfilm Studio, 1973, directed
by Yulia Solntseva, music by V. Ovchinnikov (sound-track release).
Format: feature, narrative
Carrier: DVD
Color: black-and-white / color
Length: the
1927 VUFKU edition is 68'; the 1973 Mosfilm edition is 92', 10 p., 2657 m
Original language: silent
English subtitles: yes
Film crew
Director: Oleksander Dovzhenko.
Script writer: Maik Yohansen and Yurtyk (Yurko Tiutiunnyk)
Cinematographer: Borys Zavelev
Artistic designer: V.H. Krychevsky
Make-up: Shcherbyna
Production assistants: L. Bodyk, M. Zubov, Cherniaev
Film cast
Mykola Nademsky as the grandfather and the general
Semen Svashenko as Tymishko
Les Podorozhny as Pavlo
P. Otava as Oksana and Roksolana
Also M. Charov, Georgy Astfyev, I. Seliuk, Leonid Barbe,
M. Parshina, O. Simonov
Synopsis
There is a mysterious place in the midst of the Ukrainian
steppes, the Zvenyhora, or the Ringing Mountain.
According to folk legends it harbors invaluable treasures
of the Scythians. The entire chain of historic events
that left their trace on the face of Ukraine – the
Varangians, the nomad invaders, the struggle against
the Polish gentry, the Haidamaka uprising, the First
World War and the Bolshevik Revolution – are
connected by one image of a Ukrainian old man, ageless,
ingenuous, enterprising, cunning and indestructible – Dovzhenko’s
personification of Ukrainian identity itself. The
old man’s entire life is devoted to hunting
for the illusive hidden treasures, which, as the
film unfolds increasingly appear as a metaphor of
Ukraine’s national sole and its – yet
unlocked - spiritual potential. In the process, the
old man is torn between his grandson Pavlo, epitome
of the Ukrainian nationalist cause, and Tymishko,
forward-looking, proletariat-oriented Bolshevik.
The old man, instigated by Pavlo attempts to derail
the Bolshevik train of progress. He is captured by
Tymish’s comrades-in-arms, forgiven and taken
on board the train speeding away towards the bright
new day. |