With Fire and Sword (film)
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| With Fire and Sword | |
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| Directed by | Jerzy Hoffman |
| Produced by | Jerzy Frykowski, Jerzy Hoffman, Jerzy R. Michaluk |
| Written by | Jerzy Hoffman, Andrzej Krakowski |
| Starring | Izabella Scorupco, Michał Żebrowski, Aleksandr Domogarov |
| Music by | Krzesimir Debski |
| Cinematography | Grzegorz Kedzierski |
| Editing by | Marcin Bastkowski, Cezary Grzesiuk |
| Release date(s) | 1999 |
| Running time | 175 min. |
| Language | Polish, Ukrainian |
| IMDb profile | |
With Fire and Sword is the English title of the Polish film Ogniem i Mieczem, a historical drama directed by Jerzy Hoffman, released in 1999. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
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[edit] Plot
The story is set in Poland and Ukraine of the 17th century during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. While the book on which the film is based was written from a strongly Polish nationalist point of view, as were earlier film versions, the present one is noted in trying to present a more complex depiction of the Ukraninian rebel leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky - a national hero to Ukrainians, but often a villain in Polish eyes (and even more so to Jews). See Bohdan Khmelnytsky#Controversies.
[edit] Criticism
The movie has been criticized for introducing some inaccuracies.[1] One of the least accurate sections of the film is Hoffman's presentation of the first battle between the Poles and the Cossacks - the Battle of Żółte Wody (April & May 1648). The movie suggests that the Poles were quickly routed by Cossacks and mainly because of the stubbornness of the polish elite cavalry (called "huzaria") coupled with unfavorable weather conditions. In reality, despite the fact that the Poles were greatly outnumbered (especially after they were deserted by all the Cossacks who had joined Bohdan Khmelnytsky - about 10 to 1) and their commander, hetman Stefan Potocki, was only 24 years old, the Poles fought well and lasted for about three weeks.[1]
Though the book is very nationalistic and Ukrainophobic, the movie has been praised for its depiction of Ukraine and Ukrainians as "vivid rather than monochromatic; they are multi-dimensional, eliciting more than one feeling of, say, fascination or dislike".[2]
[edit] Trivia
- At the time it was filmed, the film was the most expensive Polish film ever made (since surpassed by Quo Vadis, 2001).
- Although the novel is the first part of the Trilogy, the film was the last part of Hoffman's version of the trilogy to be made, following The Deluge, which was filmed in 1974, and Colonel Wolodyjowski, which was filmed in 1969.
[edit] Cast
- Izabella Scorupco as Helena Kurcewiczówna
- Michał Żebrowski as Jan Skrzetuski
- Aleksandr Domogarov as Jurko Bohun
- Krzysztof Kowalewski as Jan Onufry Zagłoba
- Bohdan Stupka as Bohdan Khmelnytsky
- Andrzej Seweryn as Jeremi Wiśniowiecki
- Zbigniew Zamachowski as Michał Wołodyjowski
- Wiktor Zborowski as Longinus Podbipięta
- Daniel Olbrychski as Toğay bey (Tuhaj Bej)
- Marek Kondrat as Jan II Kazimierz
- Wojciech Malajkat as Rzędzian
- Ewa Wisniewska as Kurcewiczówna
- Ruslana Pysanka as Horpyna
- Gustaw Holoubek as Adam Kisiel
- Andrzej Kopiczynski as Zacwilichówski
- Maciej Kozlowski as Maxym Kryvonis
- Adam Ferency as İslâm III Giray
- Gustaw Lutkiewicz as Yakiv Barabash
- Dmitri Mirgorodsky as Koshovy Ataman
- Jerzy Bonczak as Daniel Czapliński
- Krzysztof Gosztyla as Jerzy Ossoliński
- Szymon Kobylinski as Mikołaj Ostroróg
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Battle of Yellow Waters (Żуłte Wody), 1648
- ^ Yuri Shevchuk. With Fire and Sword" depicts Kozak war against Poland The Ukrainian Weekly. May 23, 1999.
