Unit 2 Cinema

Part 4 Ukrainian Scene

Lead-in

60 For the most part, we rarely find the opportunities to see movies on the big screen. Normally, it’s the video or television. Think of the last few films that you have recently seen. Give thumbnail reviews following the format below:

Background: where and when set, director, the leads, cast, genre.	sequel/prequel, megastar, starlets, leads, supporting roles, bit-parts, extras, cameo role	It is the unusual chronicle of … The director describes how a … The film gives a comprehensive picture of …
Plot outline: the beginning, twists of the plot, parallel story-lines, climax, end.	It depicts the … story of young … The production examines the … The director portrays the desperate efforts of …	The plot is a whirlwind of … The director … recounts/recalls the dramatic fate of … The production focuses on a historical-political event …
Comments on: the script, message, characters, casting, direction, camerawork, performances, pacing, memorable moments, score, special effects, your reaction to the film.	It's shot, edited, and paced with … The … knows a thing or two about … technical wizardry heart-rending … emotional undercurrent … capitalizes on … The star's power keeps you in … (thrall) … leaves you marveling at … at the top of their game eye-candy intensity and nail-biting excitement	… flows effortlessly from scene to scene The … (acting) lives up to expectations … capture the different moods … have a similar pattern in … … paucity of the dialogue … simplism of the screenplay … redeeming qualities … a disgrace considering … There is drama to go along with … … compensate(s) the lack of substance … just fade in oblivion
Recommendation and overall evaluation.	evident quality must be commended for … sheer/mass/light/mere entertainment low-brow/middle-brow/high-brow production	a fully fledged art form Oscar nomination speaks for itself blockbuster / box office success / smash / hit. box office failures / box office disaster / turkey If you can stomach the intensity of …

61 Below are two lists: of cities hosting world-famous film fora and the specific awards given. Match the places in the box with the relevant awards?

1. Bafta	A. Cannes
2. Oscar	B. Berlin
3. Golden Bear	C. Hollywood
4. Golden Lion	D. Moscow
5. Palme d'Or	E. London
6. Golden Eagle	F. Venice

62 As of the time of writing this task Ukrainian cinefiles were looking forward to seeing Ukraine's most landmark production of the years 2001-2002 "Molytva Za Get’mana Mazepu". The production focuses on some historical-political events and, therefore, like the film " Patriot " with Mel Gibson, the Polish production " Vohnem I Mechem " with Bohdan Stupka, has already generated a lot of lance breaking. Read the available information related to the film for further discussions.

The program for the Competition section of the 52nd Berlin International Film Festival 2002 is now complete: a total of 23 films will be running in competition and 9 entries out of competition. In addition to the 14 titles previously announced, the program will include another 18 feature films, 10 of which are world premieres. 10 short films will round off the program.

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The Ukrainian film "Molytva Za Get’mana Mazepu" (A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa), will be running out of competition and goes back further in history. In opulent images, director Yuriy Illienko tells of the pact between the Ukrainian Hetman Mazepa and the Swedish king against the Czar during the Russian-Swedish War of 1708-1709.
Molytva za Get'mana Mazepu / A Prayer For Hetman Mazepa

Ukraine 2001

DIRECTOR: Yuriy Illienko

Screenplay: Yuriy Illienko

Music: Virko Baley

Producer: Igor Didkovs'kyi

Cast: Bohdan Stupka, Ljudmyla Yefymenko, Nikita Džygurda, V'yacheslav Dovženko, Viktor Demertaš, Katya Lisovenko

Biography

Yuriy Illienko was born in Dnipropetrovs'k in Ukraine 1936. He is a director, cinematographer, screenwriter and actor. Illienko graduated in cinematography from Moscow film school VGIK in 1961, first working as a cinematographer at the Yalta Film Studios, subsequently joining the Dovzenko Studio in Kyiv in 1963. Famous for his collaboration with Serhiy Paradzhanov (FIRE HORSES, 1963). His own work as a director began in 1965. Like Paradzhanov, he is also a proponent of poetic fantasy.

Plot Outline

During the war between Russia and Sweden (1708-1709), Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of the Ukraine (which at that time belonged to the Russian Empire), signed a pact with the Swedish King Carl XII against the Russian Czar Peter I – also known as “Peter the Great”. Mazepa’s goal is to gain independence for the Ukraine. However, Carl is defeated at the battle of Poltava and loses the war. During the battle, Mazepa and the Czar have a hefty argument, after which the Czar celebrates his defeat of the Swedish army at a victory banquet, which all the captured marshals and generals of the Swedish army are obliged to attend. However, Mazepa and the King of Sweden manage to avoid the Czar’s banquet invitation by escaping. The hunt for Carl XII and the ageing Mazepa begins. Sensing that he is close to death, Mazepa begins to look back upon the various stages of his stormy life full of bold aggression, love affairs, political mystification and intrigue.

These events begin to get mixed up in Mazepa’s feverish fantasies and so, at one moment he is thinking of his love for a young peasant girl named Motrya and, at another, he remembers the burning of a straw effigy in his likeness. He also thinks of the atrocities committed by Ataman Sirko, who arrested Mazepa as a young man while Mazepa was in the process of delivering women to the Khan of Crimea’s harem. He remembers his election to the post of Hetman following the Crimean campaign, but also the bloody destruction of the Hetman city of Baturin and the crucified corpses of the town’s inhabitants floating down the river...

After Mazepa’s death, the Czar breaks into the monastery where he is buried and desecrates Mazepa’s grave. Mazepa’s corpse – or is it just a straw effigy once more? – is bound to a horse and chased away into the steppe...

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