''The Horde'' (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

title: Орда ''Orda'',

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

: Святитель Алексий ''Svjatitelj Alexij'') is a 2012 historical film directed by Andrei Proshkin and written by

Yuri Arabov Yuri Nikolaevich Arabov (russian: Юрий Николаевич Арабов) (born 25 October 1954) is a Russian screenwriter, writer, poet and educator. He is known for his long-lasting collaboration with Alexander Sokurov. He is an Honored Arti ...

. The film is a highly fictionalised narrative of how

Saint Alexius Saint Alexius of Rome or Alexius of Edessa ( el, Ἀλέξιος, ''Alexios''), also Alexis, was a fourth-century Greek monk who lived in anonymity and is known for his dedication to Christ. There are two versions of his life that are known, a Sy ...

healed Taidula

Khatun Khatun ( Mongolian: хатан; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣, katun; ota, خاتون, hatun or قادین ''kadın''; fa, خاتون ''khātūn''; ; hi, ख़ातून ') is a female title of nobility and counterpart to " khan" or " Khagan" promine ...

, the mother of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

khan

Jani Beg Jani Beg ( fa, , tt-Latn, Canibäk), also known as Djanibek Khan, was a Khan of the Golden Horde from 1342 to 1357, succeeding his father Öz Beg Khan. Reign With the support of his mother Taydula Khatun, Jani Beg made himself khan after eli ...

, from blindness. The film was released as ''The Golden Empire'' in the UK.

Plot

(Innokenty Dakayarov) kills his brother Khan

Tini Beg Tini Beg ( tt-Arab, تينه بك), also known as Dinibeg, was the khan of the Golden Horde from 1341 to 1342. Biography He was born to Öz Beg Khan and his principal wife Taydula Khatun. He was appointed as governor of White Horde in c. 1328 ...

(

Andrey Panin Andrei Vladimirovich Panin (russian: Андре́й Влади́мирович Па́нин; 28 May 1962 – 6 March 2013) was a Nika Award-winner Russian actor appearing in film and television, and a director. Biography Early life Panin was ...

) and replaces him. Soon, his mother Taidula (Roza Hairullina) goes blind and Jani Beg is desperate to have her blindness cured. Meanwhile, Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow (Maxim Sukhanov) has reached fame as a wondermaker and Jani Beg asks Ivan the Fair (Vitaly Khaev) hand Alexius to him as a healer. Alexius is reluctant but Ivan sees this as a rare opportunity to delay the inevitable Tatar attack on

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Eventually, Alexius succumbs and, accompanied by Jani Beg's retainers Timer (Fedot Lvov) and Badakyul (Aleksey Yegorov), travels to Saray-Jük with his '' keleynik'' Fedka (Aleksandr Yatsenko). They fail to cure Taidula's blindness and Alexius is banished, while Fedka is taken as a slave for desecrating the threshold. After a period of suffering and subsequent

sanctification Sanctification (or in its verb form, sanctify) literally means "to set apart for special use or purpose", that is, to make holy or sacred (compare la, sanctus). Therefore, sanctification refers to the state or process of being set apart, i.e. " ...

of Alexius, Taidula's eyes are healed. Alexius and Fedka return to Moscow. Shortly after, Jani Beg is assassinated by his son

Berdi Beg Berdi Beg or Berdibek ( fa, , tt-Latn, Möxämmät Bärdibäk) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1357 to 1359, having succeeded his father Jani Beg. Berdi Beg was the last khan to rule before the beginning of a long cycle of civil wars in the ...

(Moge Oorzhak).

Language

Most of the dialogues in ''The Horde'' are in the

Karachay-Balkar language Karachay-Balkar (, ), or Mountain Turkic (, ), is a Turkic language spoken by the Karachays and Balkars in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay–Cherkessia, European Russia, as well as by an immigrant population in Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey. ...

(with Russian

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

in the theatrical release). Filmmakers considered Karachay-Balkar as the living language most closely resembling Kipchak spoken by the 14th century Golden Horde.Максим Суханов стал митрополитом
/ref> Nevertheless, none of the actors of Turkic extraction are native speakers of the language; Dakayarov, Lovov, and Yegorov are

Yakuts The Yakuts, or the Sakha ( sah, саха, ; , ), are a Turkic ethnic group who mainly live in the Republic of Sakha in the Russian Federation, with some extending to the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin regions, and the Taymyr and Evenk Districts ...

, whereas Hairullina is

Volga Tatar The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars ( tt-Cyrl, татарлар, tatarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are Russia's second-largest ethnicity after t ...

Accolades

* 34th

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...

: ** “Silver George” for the best director: Andrey Proshkin ** “Silver George” for the best actress: Roza Hairullina ** Jury

NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the ins ...

Prize: ″Admirable combination of perfect cinematic images together with a strong idea of mercy in the times of severe oppression″.

References

Moscow International Film Festival

External links

* 2012 films Russian historical drama films Karachay-Balkar-language films 2010s Russian-language films Films set in the 14th century Films set in Kazakhstan Films set in Russia Films about Christianity Films about Orthodoxy {{2010s-Russia-film-stub