MovieChat Forums > Taras Bulba (1962) Discussion > Taras Bulbas' irresponsible son Andrei

Taras Bulbas' irresponsible son Andrei

posted 16 years ago by jeffyoung1
2 replies | jump to latest

I love watching historical action and drama films, like, "The War Lord", "The Fall of the Roman Empire", and "Taras Bulbas" is one of those.

It's interesting to note such a film, glorifying the past of the Ukrainian Cossacks would be made in the U.S. at the height of the Cold War when Americans disdained all things Russian, but that's neither here nor there.

I found myself dismayed at several story points. First, I couldn't get over how a tough Cossack leader's son, Andrei Bulbas, would all of a sudden throw off his fierce steppe horseman's ways, become instantly suave, dapper and civilized in an urban Polish university and then immediately become glossy-eyed, mustang-mad, p---ywhipped over some blue-eyed, pale-skinned babe. And then he goes and betrays his father and his own people over some....no, I'm not going to use vulgar language here. You get the idea.

The second dismay I felt was the arrogance and bigotry of the Poles portrayed in the movie. Anybody of Polish ethnicity is sure not going to like the way Poland and the Polish nobility were depicted in this movie. Poland and the Polish people have been subjugated throughout history by everybody else, the Germanic tribes, the Teutonic Knights, the mongols, the Ottoman Turks, the Russians from medieval times all the way down to the end of the 20th century. In this movie, for a brief bright moment in history the Poles are united and strong enough to support a strong nation, on the verge of creating their own Polish empire, despite being surrounded by enemies. Yet in this time the Poles quickly demonstrate bigotry and cultural insensitivity like any German, Russian, mongol, or Turk. Maybe I'm overgeneralizing here. But "Taras Bulbas" sure did not portray Poland or the Polish people in any great light. SPOILERS ****** At the movie's end when the returning Cossack regiments overwhelm and push the foolish Polish army off the cliffs, you only felf sorry for the Polish horses, not the Polish soldiers and knights.

I don't remember all the supposed Cossack singing, clapping, and dancing that Yul Brynner did in the movie, so I better go out and find "Taras Bulbas" and watch it again. Yul Brynner was a very unique, oft eccentric human being. As a professional actor, there are so many different opinions of him that contrast. He could be down-to-earth and personable yet convey an air of aloofness and standoffishness. He could be so open and yet so enigmatic about himself. To his credit, he didn't conceal or make excuses for his partial Asian ethnicity. He invented something of a humorous explanation for who and what he was. In all, Yul Brynner may have just been an uncomplicated man who enjoyed being uncomplicated yet delighted in portraying himself as a complex man, something more of a bonne vivant.

[–] vosges1945 15 years ago

*****
I couldn't get over how a tough Cossack leader's son, Andrei Bulbas, would all of a sudden throw off his fierce steppe horseman's ways, become instantly suave, dapper and civilized in an urban Polish university and then immediately become glossy-eyed, mustang-mad, p---ywhipped over some blue-eyed, pale-skinned babe...
*****

Well, it was based on a love story written over a hundred years before filming began. If you really want implausible? In Gogol's book Andrey didn't meet the girl until one night after the city had gone under siege. In other words, Andrey threw away everything up to that point in his life in one night.
Talk about love at first site! We're talking Helen of Troy epic proportions here.

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The second dismay I felt was the arrogance and bigotry of the Poles portrayed in the movie. Anybody of Polish ethnicity is sure not going to like the way Poland and the Polish nobility were depicted in this movie. Poland and the Polish people have been subjugated throughout history by everybody else, the Germanic tribes, the Teutonic Knights, the mongols, the Ottoman Turks, the Russians from medieval times all the way down to the end of the 20th century.
*****

Actually, in the time period of the story, the Jagiellon dynasty was in power. This dynasty was a union between Lithuania and Poland, not a subjugation of Lithuania over Poland. Poland at this time defeated the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald, taking their lands as a vassalage. The Uniate church was formed and the Univesity of Cracow was founded. Aided the Hussites in the Hussite war and defeated the Turks in the Battle of Varna. Constantly fending off raids from Tatars, Muscovites and others, the Jagiellon managed to grow to hold four thrones (Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, and Polish Prussia - in that order of prominence). Produced Copernicus, established ties with the Vatican and fought in many excursions to support treaties outside her own borders in her own and others interests. Just a small sampling of the moving and shaking Poland was up to during that time. When the Pope calls upon you to relieve the siege of Constantinople, you're pretty much in the big leagues!
Poland was a powerful state at this time, militarily and politically. This isn't counting the 'Golden Age' after the Jagiellons, or the Piast Dynasty before that.
To say Poland has been subjugated from before the Dark Ages until just recently isn't quite true. In fact, Poland has had her fate in her hands for the majority if her existence.
The dark times most people refer to are two-fold. 1795 until the end of the first world war (Napoleon's Vienna conference), and then from 1939 to 1990 (Conquered and partitioned by Germany and Russia). Admittedly bad times, but in no way do they represent all of Polish history.

[–] zaraath 10 years ago

The second dismay I felt was the arrogance and bigotry of the Poles portrayed in the movie. Anybody of Polish ethnicity is sure not going to like the way Poland and the Polish nobility were depicted in this movie. [...] In this movie, for a brief bright moment in history the Poles are united and strong enough to support a strong nation, on the verge of creating their own Polish empire, despite being surrounded by enemies. Yet in this time the Poles quickly demonstrate bigotry and cultural insensitivity like any German, Russian, mongol, or Turk. Maybe I'm overgeneralizing here. But "Taras Bulbas" sure did not portray Poland or the Polish people in any great light.

The intransigence, selfishness, treason in the pay of foreign powers, and frequent rebellions (rakosz) of the Polish nobility were probably the main reason for Poland's downfall. The Founding Fathers of the United States were well aware of how the Liberum Veto (1 member could prevent a law from being passed) made the Polish Republic ungovernable when they wrote the Constitution.