''Taras Bulba'' (russian: Тарас Бульба) is a historical drama film, based on the novel ''

Taras Bulba ''Taras Bulba'' (russian: «Тарас Бульба»; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons And ...

'' by Nikolai Gogol. The movie was filmed on different locations in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

such as

Zaporizhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populatio ...

Khotyn Khotyn ( uk, Хотин, ; ro, Hotin, ; see other names) is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of t ...

and Kamianets-Podilsky as well as in Poland. The official release was rescheduled several times; at first for the spring of 2008 but was finally released on April 2, 2009, to coincide with Gogol's bicentennial. The author's edition of 1842, expanded and rewritten, and considered more pro-Russian, was used for the film (this also being the text that is familiar to most readers). The film DVD was released in the United States under the alternate title ''The Conqueror'' in 2010,Link
/ref> and in the UK in 2011 as ''Iron & Blood: The Legend of Taras Bulba''.

Cast

Bohdan Stupka Bohdan Sylvestrovych Stupka ( uk, Богдан Сильвестрович Ступка; 27 August 1941 – 22 July 2012) was a popular Ukrainian actor and the minister of culture of Ukraine. He was born in Kulykiv, General Government to Ukrainian ...

as Taras Bulba *

Igor Petrenko Igor Petrovich Petrenko (russian: И́горь Петро́вич Петре́нко; born August 23, 1977) is a Russian actor of cinema and theater. In 2002 President of Russia, Vladimir Putin gave him The State prize of Russia. Biography Ig ...

as Andriy Bulba * Vladimir Vdovichenkov as Ostap Bulba * Magdalena Mielcarz as Panna Elzhbeta * Mikhail Boyarsky as Cossack Moisei Shilo * Vladimir Ilyin as former ataman *

Yury Belyayev Yury Viktorovich Belyayev (russian: Юрий Викторович Беляев; born 28 August 1947) is a Soviet and Russian film and theatre actor. He has received the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (1995) and the USSR State ...

as Kirdyaga, ataman * Ada Rogovtseva as Taras Bulba's wife * Boris Khmelnitsky as Beard *

Daniel Olbrychski Daniel Marcel Olbrychski (; born 27 February 1945) is a Polish film and theatre actor who is widely considered one of the greatest Polish actors of his generation. He appeared in 180 films and TV productions and is best known for leading roles ...

as Krasnevsky * Sergey Bezrukov as Narrator * Liubomiras Laucevičius as Polish Duke * Pyotr Zaychenko as Metelitsa *

Les Serdyuk Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Serdyuk ( uk, Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович Сердю́к), also known as Les Serdyuk ( uk, Лесь Сердюк); October 14, 1940 in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR – May 26, 2010 in Kyiv, Ukraine) wa ...

as Dmytro *

Aleksandr Dedyushko Aleksandr Viktorovich Dedyushko (May 20, 1962 – November 3, 2007) was a Russian television actor, best known for war dramas and the Russian version of ''Dancing with the Stars''. Life Born as Aliaksandr Dziadziushka ( be, Аляксандр � ...

as Stepan Guska * Ivan I. Krasko as Kasyan Bovdyug *

Sergey Dreyden Sergey Simonovich Dreyden (Dontsov) (russian: Серге́й Си́монович Дре́йден (Донцо́в); born 14 September 1941) is a Russian actor and star of Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark. Life He was born in Novosibirsk to th ...

as Yankel

Controversies

The film was partly financed by the Russian Ministry of Culture and has been criticized in Ukraine for being a part of political propaganda "resembling leaflets for

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

". The director Vladimir Bortko has also stated that the movie aimed to show that "there is no separate Ukraine": This view is strongly opposed by nationalistic Ukrainians. In Russia there were fears that the movie would exacerbate historical disagreements with Ukraine. On April 7, 2022, in the midst of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, the film was re-released to Russian cinemas. The film was also cautiously watched in Poland, where its possible anti-Polish character was widely discussed and its propagandist elements examined. This was enhanced by the fact that the filmmakers added some scenes depicting Polish brutality to the original plot by Gogol. The cover of the US DVD edition (titled ''The Conqueror'') has the tagline "Between Fire and the Sword Lies a Hero", a possible underhand reference to Polish historical fiction book and film ''

With Fire and Sword ''With Fire and Sword'' ( pl, Ogniem i mieczem, links=no) is a historical novel by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, published in 1884. It is the first volume of a series known to Poles as The Trilogy, followed by '' The Deluge'' (''Potop'' ...

'' (Polish: Ogniem i mieczem). Cover on Amazon.com

References

External links

Official trailer at Twitch

Kino-Teatr.ru

* {{Vladimir Bortko 2009 films Films set in the 16th century Russian historical adventure films 2000s Russian-language films Films set in Ukraine Films based on Taras Bulba Films directed by Vladimir Bortko 2000s historical adventure films