Aleksandr DOVZHENKO Александр ДОВЖЕНКО Aleksandr DOVJENKO Yulia SOLNTSEVA Юлия СОЛНЦЕВА Youlia SOLNTSEVA   USSR, 1927, 65 mn  Black and white, silent, fiction

Zvenigora ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Звенигора    Zvenigora  Zvenigora

Plot synopsis

An allegory in which the central theme is the relationship of an old man with his two sons, one bad, one good, searching for treasure buried in the hill of Zvenigora. The good son represents the progressive social order for which the revolution strove; the bad son represents the chaos of any major social upheaval. Zvenigora is less a film than a tone poem, set forth by master Russian cinematic poet Alexander Dovzhenko. Moving outside the studio system for the first time (it was his fourth film), Dovzhenko uses lyrical location shots of rural Ukraine and its farmers to excellent advantage. The very complex storyline (too much so to dwell on at great length here) combines elements of fact and folklore in relating the "history" the Ukraine, using the search for a fabled treasure as the glue that holds the tale together. This is not an accessible "classroom classic" like Eisenstein's Potemkin. Be prepared to think and be challenged, and not to sit back comfortably, while experiencing Zvenigora.
Hal Erickson, All-Movie Guide

Selected in the following festivals :

- Europalia Russia 2005, Brussels (Belgium), 2005

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