Taras Bulba
2009, Russia
Taras Bulba
is the latest of
director Vladimir
Bortko's recent screen
adaptations of Russian
classics. He directed
a multi-part TV
adaptation of
Bulgakov's The Master
and Margarita, a
famous novel
suppressed by the
USSR; and he also gave
us a TV serial about
Peter the Great, based
upon a novel by Daniil
Granin, one of
Russia's most awarded
contemporary authors.
(Granin is 92 now, and
still at it.) Both of
those projects have
been covered here.
Bortko's
script is based on a
19th century story
which romanticized a
16th century struggle
between the Cossacks
and some Poles who
were attempting to
take Cossack territory
by means of brutal
force. The esteemed
Russian writer Nicolai
Gogol was responsible
for the original
historical romance
which served as a
basis for this and
several other filmed
adaptations. Perhaps
you remember a
Hollywood version with
Yul Brynner and Tony
Curtis.
The
production values
are excellent, and
there are some
beautifully composed
scenes, but you
probably won't find
much to relate to
here unless you are
specifically
interested in how
Russians glorify
their history, or
how the 19th century
idealized the
struggles of the
16th.
Both
of the other Bortko
projects which I
mentioned above have
contributed nudity
to this page, so Ol'
Vladdy is like the
Robert Altman of
Russkie filmmakers
in terms of getting
hot chicks naked. He
hasn't let us down
this time either,
although the nudity
is a little too arty
this time. The
Polish beauty
Magdalena Mielcarz
exposed her
breasts in two
different scenes.
One was a B&W
flashback with some
funky lighting; the
other a color scene
partially spoiled by
"Vaseline-lensing."
