Taras Bulba - the movie

All I've said was that the movie could have been better (in terms of both actors and the whole historical image shown there).


Beautiful woman. :)
Taras looks like a mongolian dwarf... too much tanning.

Funny I agree and Taras Bulba looks like a Japanese samurai, not like a Ukrainian cossack.
Maybe they were depicting some Japano-Roman war when Cesar lost his compass and ended in the Pacific ocean close to Japanese shores.

It is a crisis now, we should cut off expenses. New movie "Tsusima" is expected this summer.

Bogdan Stupka is starred as admiral Togo.

hahaha, good lord! I'd like to shoot the man that was in charge of costumes for this movie. I never knew that Roman cavalry helped to save Poland against Turkish hordes.

And what were they thinking with the blue clothing, worn by Poles??

In my opinion, Bogdan Stupka is an ideal actor for playing B. Chmelnyckyj and Taras Bulba as his appearance and play is what I see were the traits of these two people. He's great.

Apr 3, 09, 21:47 - Thread attached on merging:
Russians filmed anti-Polish, anti-Ukrainian movie

Director of this movie was born and risen in Ukraine, then moved 29 yo to Moscow and filmed one gifted movie in his 30-th. Now he is not in a good shape, but still perfect for politically motivated provocations of ruling in Russia's regime against pro-European Ukraine.

His movie "Taras Bulba" is ridiculously expensive, but who counting money... Premiere happened this week and a pile of Russian mighty nationalists were present as Mr. Zhirinovsky, etc. In this movie a lot of blood, a lot of Ukrainian cossacks of 15th century dying for Russia (even Russia as a country did not exist that time), a lot of hate words against "liechy"... Blood, hate,.. Shameful idiotic footage, manipulation of history and a ridiculous attempt to put down new friendly relations between Poles and Ukrainians.

Quality of the footage is not for Oscar nomination, btw. Made in "new Russian action" style, with closed shots wounds and a lot of dark ketchup. Brrr... Horrible.

The movie is based on a under the same title, by Nikolai Gogol. There were two versions.

In short, Taras Bulba is kinda like American Rocky Balboa.
Bulcrap then, bullcrap now.

Okay....could someone please explain...why is that movie seen as anti-polish???

*admits ignorance about one Bulba, Taras*

IMDB is not very forthcoming either
imdb.com/title/tt1242457/

TO SLO: READ GOGOL'S«TARAS BULBA» and learn history

>There were two versions

Yes. And Mr. Bortko has filmed second one, adapted to czarist propaganda, with those "dying for Russia" Ukrainian cossacks and outrageous words about "there will a great Russian czar come down". What Russian czar in 15th century cossacks expected??? Ukrainian cossacks fought against Russian czar's punitive troops the same way as against Polish... And, the same time it is our Ukrainian history of common wealth with Polish people with both glorious and bad times happened. But such flat, bloody movie in 21th century.... Pure propaganda of hate.

>TO SLO: READ GOGOL'S«TARAS BULBA» and learn history

Oh, Taras Bulba has NOTHING to do to history. Great Ukrainian writer working for Russian empire Nikolai Hohol (re-)wrote it for money, I am sure he was not proud of such flat cheap anti-Polish story. Do you know he had a lot of Polish friends in real life?

What now...did those cossacks fight against polish troops or not? And if yes, why is a movie about it anti-polish hate propaganda?

yes they did,


I don't know. Maybe it it the timing.

Well..I as a German don't see all these WWII- and Nazi- and Holocaust movies as anti-german hate propaganda.

So what's the problem with a Russian/Ukraine/Polish war movie???

I am just guessing here, but I guess since those relationships are strained already, the movie will revive old conflicts from the past. You need to ask Slo.

Don't do this all history movies somehow?


I did...nobody is answering...:(

Because, first of all, it is not about a war time. Polish-Ukrainian civil war happened 100 years later, in hetman Hmelnitsky era. This original story of Hohol is about the time when Polish and Ukrainian elites lived in peace in one commonwealth and both were proud to be the szliahta. The division and conflict happened, again, about 100 years later, in Reformation time, when Polish elite decided that to be the nobles (shliahta) means to be a catholic and not orthodox Christian. Yes, there was uprising of different war lords and magnats each against others in 15th century, both Ukrainian and Polish mixed, but it was such time, not a civil war. Great writer Mykola (Nikolai) Hohol originally was attempting to express this life in his first version, but it was not accepted by czarist censorship (original story written in 19th century) and he re-wrote it making unnatural pro-Russian (again, it is time before Russian empire, north of Recz Pospolita there was Moskowia, Russia still not existed).

Yes, it is a bad timing. When you see movie about German Nazi time it is still actual, because hate, racism, xenophobia are still a reality. And now, new Ukrainian-Polish relations is just in beginning of new era of friendship. So, why now? Why you Russians doing it about Ukrainians and Poles?

Russian Mr. Bortko approached it in different way from Polish Mr. Hoffman with his With Sword And Fire. Both films on different stories written in 19th centuries, Polish With Sword and Fire is about 16th century and Russian story Taras Bulba is about 15th. Russian director has saturated the conflict, not time and not personalities unlike Polish Mr. Hoffman did. I respect second approach, this is a honest approach even many nationalists in Poland and Ukraine were expecting more harsh approach. And once Polish filmmaker is making it about Polish-Ukrainian matter it is again honest. But when Russian director makes it about Ukrainian-Polish matter...

Oh yes. Thank you for employing Ukrainian actor Mr. Stupka for main character in both movies :-) But it wont save the ridiculous hate movie.

Hohol-Hohli.He must have been ukrainian.

Gogol is Russian-English transcript and in Ukrainian-English he is spelled as Hohol, more correspondent to smooth Ukrainian pronunciation. But it is not the point.

For the rest of the world... it's just a movie.

Do you mean that "hate movies" don't exist? Then you should watch the film. And I wont recommend to others.

Yes,but Russians call Ukrainians hochli while Ukrainians call Russians Moskoli.I have found it is not a good idea to call a Russian Moskoli.

I agree, it is rude. And in this new Russian movie Poles called ONLY "liaxy"...

*LACHY

Actually today's Ukrainians call them ''Poliachy''.

Who cares ? All I will say about this movie is... yawn...

I'll watch the film because the story interests me. I'll form an opinion about it when I've seen it.

Whom? Mitskevich? don'n make me laugh! We all have Polish friends. It is totally self-delusion, there is no any first or second version,there is only one version of Taras Bulba. Actualy, this spiteful envy of uneducated Pole serves only to prove that movie is good. His ignorance reveals when he write that there was no Russian state in those times. I bet that even Gogol's "Viy" has clear antipolish features for Poles.

It is a know fact in Ukraine. Read Wikipedia:
"...The novel has two versions. The first (1835) is decidedly Ukrainian in theme and story. The second (1842) was written in response to criticism of Dead Souls for being anti-Russian."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taras_Bulba


"Viy" is a good example how Hohol/Gogol loved that time and expressed in different way. "Viy" is about the same time as Taras Bulba, but about peace, not conflict, as well as other great stories of Hohol. "Viy" is cool. Why Russians not filmed mystic "Viy" and filmed "Taras Bulba" saturating it and making a hate movie?

Ukrainians call Russians "kacapy". "Moskali" is a bit nicer for Russians. The name "kacapy" comes from beards Russians had on their chins and looked like he-goats or kozly. In Ukrainian he-goat is "cap" (like in Polish if I am not mistaken), so from here you have the name "kacap". Cossacks used to call them exclusively like that. "Moskali" appeared in 19th century expressions for recruited soldiers fighting for the tsar and not necessarily Russians. All who forgot their language in favor of that language were called "moskali".


Southern, do you speak any language at all? It is "POLIAKY" which means "POLACY" in Ukrainian.

Guys, we Ukrainians call Russians - 'Rosijany' and Poles 'Poliaky'. Because we are cool and not rude :-) We just tired of the manipulations of our history and dream to live in peace with all neighbors. Good that Poles, at least their government and elites do share such desire.