Skip to main content

Taras Bulba

By


Vladimir Bortko's adaptation of Gogol's  controversial novel (now available on DVD) created a big stir when it was released last year.  Bortko has built a fine reputation as one of Russia's premier directors, having brought Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog and Master and Margarita to the screen.  He also did a fine adaptation of Dostoevsky's The Idiot.  This led persons to wonder why such a blatantly pro-Russian version of this novel, which shows the Wild Cossack plowing through fields of Polish noblemen, slicing them down to size.

The main thrust of this movie, which Ellen Barry notes in her review, appears to be an attempt to show that there is no separate Ukraine, bringing back the Pan-Slavism that has long dominated Russian thought.  Of course the odd thing is relying on Gogol for any historical picture, given his sardonic view of early 19th century Russia, not to mention the dementia he eventually developed.  However, being a Ukrainian, with Polish ancestry, who identified himself as Russian, seems to be enough to ground these long running sentiments in Taras Bulba.

Anyway, the movie is worth watching for its visual effects alone.  One of the most lavish Russian movies ever made.  You just have to take Bortko's political motivations with a grain of salt.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ward No. 6

By
Ward No. 6 is a short story written by Chekhov in 1892.  It has appeared in various collections of Chekhov short stories, including The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories translated by Constance Garnett in 1921.  In this story, Chekhov explores the inner working of a run-down lunatic asylum in a provincial town.  He  introduces the readers to a coarse porter who speaks mostly with his fists, various patients, a doctor who presides over this ward, and expresses his thoughts with a local postmaster.  It was recently made into a movie , featuring Vladimir Ilyin.  Here's a clip . There's also this very recent short film (30 min.) by Suzana Purkovic, with English subtitles.
17 comments
Read more

Light and Dark

By
I'm still trying to sort out the ending.  The story had to end tragically but was surprised that Rogozhin actually sought forgiveness in Myshkin after what he had done to Nastya, although I think that Dostoevsky intended the two to be read as one, along similar lines as The Double .  He kept Rogozhin a shadowy figure throughout the novel, ever lurking in the dark of the Prince's soul.  Try as he might, Prince Myshkin could not alter events and thus the fantasy world he had lived in upon returning to Russia crumbled before his eyes, leaving him at a total loss as how to reconcile himself with it. Once again, Dostoevsky plumbs great depths of the human soul.  This is a psychological drama told in theatrical terms, perfectly suited for the stage.  Characters appear and disappear as if moving from the shadows of the stage.  I can see the "green bench" as the central stage piece.  In the final part, one gets the sense that Lebedev is orchestrating events, and may even
12 comments
Read more

The Morning of Our Motherland

By
I was watching a History channel special on Socialist Realism art of the Soviet Union and this was one of the grand canvases that is now stuffed away in the Tretyakov State Gallery .  The painter was Fyodor Shurpin and he had a wonderful eye for detail, right down to the secret service black car on the road to Stalin's right.  To the left, one sees a row of combines turning over the field of golden wheat, which became symbolic of Stalin's Soviet Union.  Утро нашей Родины is from 1949, with Stalin radiating a post-war confidence.  It is also known as  Dawn of our Fatherland and other titles. Shurpin was one of the better artists to carry over from the pre-war years.  The narrator pointed out how socialist realist art changed dramatically as a result of the war, becoming much more static and propagandist in appearance.  He pointed to two stops along the Moscow subway as an example of this divide.  Here, Shurpin essentially transposes Stalin for an earlier "Mother"
Post a Comment
Read more