Bogdan Khmelnitskiy

Bogdan Khmelnitsky is the one of the great epic war films. It is not so famous, like 'Alexandr Nevsky', but still great. And besides, it is much more stuck to the real history. 17th century, Ukraine is under the yoke of the Polish servitude for centuries. And there is almost constant war between Tatars, Poles and Cossaсks for decades. Finally Poles decided to eliminate the Ukrainians. But there was a time, when Cossacks lived in the Ukraine. The real Cossacks, they were brave, decent and devoted to their brotherhood. You can even be Tatar or Pole, but if you became orthodox and love freedom, they accept you like their brother. You only should not drink 'gorilka' after Cossacks set out against an enemy. May be they look funny to the western public, but you can find a lot of great deeds and sacrifices in this movie.

Two Cossacks captured by the Poles and they lead them right on the pompous ball. One of the Poles cursing them and jabbing them with his sable. Cossacks are not paid any attention, but just asking each other, did the flea bite you? Polish general said: - Stop it, I know, how to talk with them… You, slaves, do you know, that this evening we will torture you by the hot iron and we will impale you next morning. And then we will watch on you, until the stake will achieve your throat. - O, thank you lord, - answered laughing Cossacks, - You have a kind heart. But can we ask you for a last wish? - OK, what do you want? - O, please, seat us on a low stake… - But why do you want these low stakes? - If we will be impaled on the low stakes, then you can kiss us in the asses more convenient… he-he-he…. Polish ladies are fainting…

Obvious, a propaganda film , in skin of historical fresco. Impressive like many others films by Igor Savchenko, it represents adaptation of Alexander Korneichuk drama.

A war film, good kick to discover the roots of Ukrainean identity, heroic, well crafted, naif in some scenes but nice for the flavors of a time, portrait of heroes, not uninspired frame for fight for freedom, intense in some scenes and, not less, well acted. Nikolai Mordvinov has just the gift to propose a realistic , nuanced portrait of legendary Zaporozhie Cozak Hetman.

Historical drama. The film adaptation of the theatrical drama of the same name by the famous Soviet playwright Alexander Korneychuk, in turn based on real historical events, namely the uprising of the Zaporozhye Cossacks led by Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. I decided to return to the old Soviet cinema for a while, because I missed the pathos and patriotism, which is now very lacking in our modern culture. And just remembered about this historical drama, filmed shortly before the Great Patriotic War. I looked - and was satisfied. And here is my brief opinion for you - A romanticized portrait of the great Hetman. I will say right away that there are no shortcomings in the picture and could not be, but I have some comments that I will note in a separate paragraph, but for now I will focus your attention on the advantages of this and, unfortunately, forgotten old painting.

So, here they are: 1. The scenario - the picture tells us about the beginning of a great historical event, namely, the uprising of the Zaporozhye Cossacks under the strong and wise leadership of Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky, whose Lyakhs killed his son, kidnapped his wife and burned his native farm of Subots, and before that, for more than a century, tortured the Russian Orthodox inhabitants of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, tried to convert to Latin faith and destroyed those who did not betray the faith of their fathers and ancestors. Russian Russian Empire A great and mighty force rose up, and it was headed by an experienced warrior, a former colonel of the registered royal Cossacks, who concluded an alliance with the Crimean Khan and began negotiations with the Russian Kingdom on military assistance and the entry of the Zaporozhian Sich and other Orthodox lands into the Russian Kingdom. The picture shows the first two most important victories of Khmelnitsky, this is the Battle of Yellow Waters and the subsequent capture of Korsun in 1648, as a result of which Crown Poland shuddered from the arrogance and military prowess of the "cattle" (so contemptuously called the Polish lords of the Zaporozhye Cossacks and in general the entire Orthodox Russian population of the kingdom). The strength and prowess of the Cossacks and the hatred and contempt of the Polish lords and especially the Catholic clergy, who sincerely hate the Orthodox, are shown. They especially focus on the treachery and meanness of the Poles and the betrayal of the Cossacks in the camp of Khmelnitsky and the fight against this by honest lads who are trying to throw off the yoke of the pans not only from themselves, but also from all Orthodox. This is a picture about the rebellious Cossacks and a strong leader, without whom this case could never have happened.

2. Patriotism - the picture is filled with pathos phrases and long monologues, in which they honestly and truthfully tell about the life of all Orthodox inhabitants of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the conditions of rampant Polish gentry and the undisguised hatred of the latter towards ordinary people for their faith. It is shown and told about the inhuman torture and monstrous cruelty of the Lyakhs in an attempt to crush the Khmelnytsky rebellion with "fire and sword". And against this background, the mighty warrior Bogdan Khmelnitsky speaks about unification with the Russian Kingdom and only this choice will save the Sich and all Orthodox from the Polish threat, and only in this way will the long-awaited peace come to this land, where people can profess their faith on their ancient Orthodox land without the risk of being humiliated for it. The prophetic words of the great Hetman proved their correctness hundreds of years later. Russian Russians living in a standard province of Russia, where there is Bogdan Khmelnitsky Avenue in the regional center, it is especially expensive, because this person is a hero for both Russian people from Russia and for Russian residents of the modern state "Ukraine", because this is our common history, and it cannot be divided in any way! In short, the picture is filled with patriotism a little more than completely and is highly recommended for familiarization. Yes, it should be shown on television for the younger generation!

3. Costumes, scenery - a minimum of scenery, a maximum of costumes and a large number of extras provided this picture with entertainment and relative verisimilitude, well, at least it was possible to immerse the viewer in the atmosphere of the turbulent middle of the seventeenth century. The battles are well staged, although there are quite a few of them. And special thanks to the costumers for their titanic work, especially in the conditions of the forty-first year.

4. Humor - even in this serious work, the creators organically and skillfully embedded humor, which perfectly dilutes the serious tone of the narrative and dramatic moments.

Now a little about the comments. Bogdan Khmelnitsky himself is very little on the screen, which spoils the overall impression a little, because he was supposed to be the main character, and here he is the main one, of course, but rarely flashes, and only in the second half of the picture we see him more often. Few battles. Both battles are shown very quickly and crumpled, and therefore the viewer is not allowed to fully experience the spirit of the battle and its entertainment. And they often say the word "Ukraine", which will appear on the map only after February 1917, so calling Bohdan Khmelnytsky "Ukrainian" and the Russian Orthodox people and the Cossacks "Ukrainians" is a clear historical mistake. And the picture also needs sound restoration, because the sound is too loud and cuts the ear, and some of the characters' phrases cannot be understood at all because of the constant noise. Well, it obviously won't hurt to reissue the picture in bly-ray format, so that a new generation of viewers can get acquainted with the classics of Soviet cinema.

A little about the main characters: 1. Bogdan Khmelnitsky, performed by Nikolai Mordvinov, is the hetman of the Zaporozhye Cossack army, who rebelled against the power of the Polish lords and went to war against them. A cunning and clever politician who lured the Crimean khan to his side and won a number of resounding victories on the Lyakhami. In this picture, his image is clearly romanticized, but it's not the fault of the actor, but the fault of the screenwriter. Khmelnitsky is closer to me in the performance of Bogdan Stupka, who is closer to the historical prototype, and outwardly the namesake of Khmelnitsky looks more like a great hetman than Nikolai Mordvinov. But I will praise the actor, I will praise him.

2. Gavrilo, performed by Mikhail Zharov, is a clerk of the Zaporozhye army, who performs a dangerous task on the orders of the hetman. A cheerful and cheerful, cunning and sharp-tongued hero, whose behavior and whose remarks you will remember for a long time, who was superbly performed by Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov. Bravo Mikhail Ivanovich! Bravo!

What a pity that the subsequent hetmans did not heed the call of Khmelnitsky, and as a result, a Ruin happened (zayandexite yourself what it is), in 1664, after the death of the hetman (1657), lakh Stefan Charnetsky desecrated the grave of Bogdan and his son Timofey, exposed the bodies to abuse and burned the Subotov farm again. Since then, no hetman has been able to surpass Khmelnitsky in wisdom and greatness, and grateful "Ukrainians" even removed the inscription "United and Indivisible Russia" from the monument to Khmelnitsky in the center of Kiev. So there is a discord between one people, whose hero Bogdan Khmelnitsky wanted to unite and that they would live in one state in the world. Forgive us, great Hetman, but we could not fulfill your covenant.

As a result, we have an excellent historical drama about the beginning of the uprising of Hetman Khmelnitsky, with a good script, excellent costumes and scenery, good music, good and funny humor, strong dramatic moments and good acting.

My rating is 9 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!