Zvenyhora ( 1928 )

Overview

The momentous film stars Mykola Nademskyi as the grandfather of Tymish, whom he alerts to the secret treasure buried in the mountains of Zvenygora – a treasure that rightfully belongs to his homeland. The film wonderfully blends both lyricism and politics and uses its central construct to build a montage praising Ukrainian industrialization, attacking the bourgeoisie, celebrating the beauty of the Ukrainian steppe and retelling ancient folklore. Sergei Eisenstein said of the film, "As the lights went on, we felt that we had just witnessed a memorable event in the development of the cinema".

Top Cast

Mykola Nademskyi

a symbolic old man / a Tsar General

Semen Svashenko

a Red Army soldier Tymish, first grandson

Les Podorozhniy

a Petliurite Pavlo, second grandson

Polina Skliar-Otava

a peasant Oksana / Roksana

Leonid Barbe

a Catholic monk

Heorhiy Astafyev

Scythian leader

Vladimir Uralskiy

Peasant

Maria Parshina

Tymish's wife

Anastasii Symonov

a stout officer on horseback