Ilya Muromets (film)
Encyclopedia
Ilya Muromets known in the US as The Sword and the Dragon and in the UK as The Epic Hero and the Beast (significantly altered versions), is a Russian fantasy film
directed by the noted fantasy director Aleksandr Ptushko
, made at Mosfilm
and released in 1956. It is based on the byliny
tales of the bogatyr
Ilya Muromets
. The film has some differences from the byliny but remains surprisingly true to the original epic poems.
gives his sword to some traveling pilgrims to be passed on to a new bogatyr. Svyatogor and his horse become a mountain as he dies. Meanwhile, Asiatic pagans known as the Tugars
are ravaging and pillaging the land. They raid the village where the bearded and robust Ilya Muromets lives and capture his future wife Vassilisa. Ilya is unable to defend her because his legs haven't worked since childhood. A man called Mishatychka caught by the Tugars pleads to serve them if they spare him, and promises to be a double agent for them. The pilgrims with Svyatogor's sword come upon the house of Ilya Muromets and give him a magic potion to drink, which cures his ailment. They also give him the sword. Later on, he decides to leave his family to go on an epic journey in order to defend Kiev from the Tugars. For this purpose he is given a foal by his friend which magically grows into a steed in three days. He passes by some woods and is confronted by a forest-dwelling monster known as Nightingale the Robber
who blows wind so hard it parts the forest backward; Ilya defeats him by throwing a cudgel at him.
Ilya travels to the capital Kiev
and presents the forest monster to Prince Vladimir the Fair Sun
, who is impressed with his deeds. Ilya becomes part of a bogatyr brotherhood with two other knights Dobrynya Nikitich
and Alyosha Popovich
. A Tugar envoy arrives in the city, a huge zeppelin-like man on a massive moving platform, who warns the Prince to give them their riches as tribute and they will be spared. Ilya replies by heaving a sword at the stomach of the puffy ambassador, cutting him down while the envoy runs off. Ilya leaves Kiev and finds Vassilisa captured by three Tugars and releases her. After a while Ilya departs from the pregnant Vassilisa to fight the Turgars. Upon leaving he expresses his wish for her to bear a son, to be called Sokolnichek (Little Falcon), who will become a heroic warrior.
Unfortunately Vassilisa is abducted again by the Tugars. Mishatychka has become an important adviser to the prince and he tricks the prince into believing that Ilya is disloyal to him. Ilya is imprisoned in the castle's dungeons where he will eventually spend ten years deprived of food by Mishatychka. Disgusted, Nikitich and Popovich leave the prince's court. Vassilisa has born a son, Sokolnichek, while in captivity of Tsar Kalin, the Tugar Khan
. Kalin adopts Sokolnichek as his own son and has him trained as a mighty Tugar warrior. The huge Tugar army sets up camp outside the city of Kiev, ordering all of its riches and Ilya Muromets to be given to Kalin in order for the city to be spared. Ilya is released, having survived on food provided by a magic table cloth that Vassilisa had woven previously. Mishatychka the traitor is rooted out and put in the dungeons, while Ilya is allowed to lead the amassed armies of the land against the Tugar hordes. Nikitich and Popovich reunite with him. In order to gain time to gather more warriors, Ilya hatches a plan to trick Kalin by using torn sacks and broken carts to create the impression that all of the gold being paid as tribute fell out during transport. Ilya then reveals himself to Kalin who feels insulted by this deception, captures Ilya and decides to attack Kiev anyway; Ilya escapes and goes to prepare his army.
Sokolnichek is now a strong Tugar warrior who is sent to fight Ilya. While they duel, Ilya sees the ring on his son's finger and reveals his true heritage to him. Abashed, he joins his father's side and goes to free Vassilisa, together with all the Russians held captive by Kalin. Nikitich and Popovich each lead one army with Ilya leading the center army toward the Tugar hordes. The Khan orders a massive pyramid to be made out of human bodies so that he can survey the forthcoming battle. The three-headed dragon, Zmey Gorynych, is summoned by Kalin to help in the fight and flies off from his mountain sanctuary to the battle site. More of the Russian soldiers land from ships from a nearby river and fight the fire-breathing dragon, eventually slaying it. The Tugar hordes are routed and Kalin captured. The victorious Ilya is finally reunited with Vassilisa and offered kingship by the current prince but declines in order to be with his wife and go on other journeys. He gives the title and his sword to his son, who continues the heroic lineage.
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
directed by the noted fantasy director Aleksandr Ptushko
Aleksandr Ptushko
Aleksandr Lukich Ptushko is a Soviet animation and fantasy film director, and Meritorious Artist of the RSFSR. Ptushko is frequently referred to as "the Soviet Walt Disney," due to his prominent early role in animation in the Soviet Union, though a more accurate comparison would be to Willis...
, made at Mosfilm
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
and released in 1956. It is based on the byliny
Bylina
Bylina or Bylyna is a traditional Russian oral epic narrative poem. Byliny singers loosely utilize historical fact greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole to create their songs...
tales of the bogatyr
Bogatyr
The bogatyr was a medieval heroic warrior of Kievan Rus' and the Novgorodian Republic, akin to a Western European knight errant.- Kievan Rus' :...
Ilya Muromets
Ilya Muromets
Ilya Muromets is a Kievan Rus' epic hero. He is celebrated in numerous byliny . Along with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich he is regarded as the greatest of all the legendary bogatyrs...
. The film has some differences from the byliny but remains surprisingly true to the original epic poems.
Plot summary
In medieval Russia, the aging giant knight SvyatogorSvyatogor
Svyatogor is the name of a Kievan Rus' mythical bogatyr from bylinas. His name is a derivation from the words "sacred mountain"...
gives his sword to some traveling pilgrims to be passed on to a new bogatyr. Svyatogor and his horse become a mountain as he dies. Meanwhile, Asiatic pagans known as the Tugars
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
are ravaging and pillaging the land. They raid the village where the bearded and robust Ilya Muromets lives and capture his future wife Vassilisa. Ilya is unable to defend her because his legs haven't worked since childhood. A man called Mishatychka caught by the Tugars pleads to serve them if they spare him, and promises to be a double agent for them. The pilgrims with Svyatogor's sword come upon the house of Ilya Muromets and give him a magic potion to drink, which cures his ailment. They also give him the sword. Later on, he decides to leave his family to go on an epic journey in order to defend Kiev from the Tugars. For this purpose he is given a foal by his friend which magically grows into a steed in three days. He passes by some woods and is confronted by a forest-dwelling monster known as Nightingale the Robber
Nightingale the Robber
Nightingale the Robber or Solovei the Brigand , also known as Solovey Odikhmantievich , was an epic robber from bylinas poetry of Kievan Rus'....
who blows wind so hard it parts the forest backward; Ilya defeats him by throwing a cudgel at him.
Ilya travels to the capital Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
and presents the forest monster to Prince Vladimir the Fair Sun
Vladimir I of Kiev
Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь Old Norse as Valdamarr Sveinaldsson, , Vladimir, , Volodymyr, was a grand prince of Kiev, ruler of Kievan Rus' in .Vladimir's father was the prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty...
, who is impressed with his deeds. Ilya becomes part of a bogatyr brotherhood with two other knights Dobrynya Nikitich
Dobrynya Nikitich
Dobrynya Nikitich is one of the most popular bogatyrs after Ilya Murometz from the Kievan Rus era. Many byliny center on Dobrynya completing tasks set him by the prince. Dobrynya is often portrayed as being close to the royal family, undertaking sensitive and diplomatic missions.As a courtier,...
and Alyosha Popovich
Alyosha Popovich
Alyosha Popovich , alongside Dobrynya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets, is a bogatyr . He is the youngest of the 3 main bogatyrs of Kiev Rus.The three of them are represented together at Vasnetsov's famous painting Bogatyrs....
. A Tugar envoy arrives in the city, a huge zeppelin-like man on a massive moving platform, who warns the Prince to give them their riches as tribute and they will be spared. Ilya replies by heaving a sword at the stomach of the puffy ambassador, cutting him down while the envoy runs off. Ilya leaves Kiev and finds Vassilisa captured by three Tugars and releases her. After a while Ilya departs from the pregnant Vassilisa to fight the Turgars. Upon leaving he expresses his wish for her to bear a son, to be called Sokolnichek (Little Falcon), who will become a heroic warrior.
Unfortunately Vassilisa is abducted again by the Tugars. Mishatychka has become an important adviser to the prince and he tricks the prince into believing that Ilya is disloyal to him. Ilya is imprisoned in the castle's dungeons where he will eventually spend ten years deprived of food by Mishatychka. Disgusted, Nikitich and Popovich leave the prince's court. Vassilisa has born a son, Sokolnichek, while in captivity of Tsar Kalin, the Tugar Khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
. Kalin adopts Sokolnichek as his own son and has him trained as a mighty Tugar warrior. The huge Tugar army sets up camp outside the city of Kiev, ordering all of its riches and Ilya Muromets to be given to Kalin in order for the city to be spared. Ilya is released, having survived on food provided by a magic table cloth that Vassilisa had woven previously. Mishatychka the traitor is rooted out and put in the dungeons, while Ilya is allowed to lead the amassed armies of the land against the Tugar hordes. Nikitich and Popovich reunite with him. In order to gain time to gather more warriors, Ilya hatches a plan to trick Kalin by using torn sacks and broken carts to create the impression that all of the gold being paid as tribute fell out during transport. Ilya then reveals himself to Kalin who feels insulted by this deception, captures Ilya and decides to attack Kiev anyway; Ilya escapes and goes to prepare his army.
Sokolnichek is now a strong Tugar warrior who is sent to fight Ilya. While they duel, Ilya sees the ring on his son's finger and reveals his true heritage to him. Abashed, he joins his father's side and goes to free Vassilisa, together with all the Russians held captive by Kalin. Nikitich and Popovich each lead one army with Ilya leading the center army toward the Tugar hordes. The Khan orders a massive pyramid to be made out of human bodies so that he can survey the forthcoming battle. The three-headed dragon, Zmey Gorynych, is summoned by Kalin to help in the fight and flies off from his mountain sanctuary to the battle site. More of the Russian soldiers land from ships from a nearby river and fight the fire-breathing dragon, eventually slaying it. The Tugar hordes are routed and Kalin captured. The victorious Ilya is finally reunited with Vassilisa and offered kingship by the current prince but declines in order to be with his wife and go on other journeys. He gives the title and his sword to his son, who continues the heroic lineage.
Production History
- Roger CormanRoger CormanRoger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
re-edited this film in the early 60s for US release, changing many names: Nightingale the RobberNightingale the RobberNightingale the Robber or Solovei the Brigand , also known as Solovey Odikhmantievich , was an epic robber from bylinas poetry of Kievan Rus'....
being changed to Wind Demon, Svyatogor being changed to Invincor, Gorynych the Serpent being changed to Zuma the Fire Dragon, Dobrynya becoming Durbar, and the Khan becoming Khalin. This version featured narration by Mike WallaceMike Wallace (journalist)Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
and the voice of the Khan was dubbed by well-known voice actor Paul FreesPaul FreesPaul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
. Corman's version of the film was featured as an episode on Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
as The Sword and the Dragon. Curiously the staff of MST3K somehow mistook the film's nation of origin to be Finland, and filled the episode with jokes about the Finnish.
- The first Soviet movie filmed in Cinemascope with a 4-track Stereo soundmix.
Actors
- Boris AndreyevBoris AndreyevBoris Fyodorovich Andreyev was a Soviet actor. He appeared in 51 films between 1939 and 1982.-Biography:Boris Andreyev was born 9 February 1915 in Saratov, Russian Empire to a family of workers. His childhood and youth years were spent in Atkarsk, Saratov Governorate...
— Ilya MurometsIlya MurometsIlya Muromets is a Kievan Rus' epic hero. He is celebrated in numerous byliny . Along with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich he is regarded as the greatest of all the legendary bogatyrs... - Ninel Myshkova — Vassilisa
- Shukur Burkhanov — Tsar Kalin
- Andrey Abrikosov — Prince Vladimir
- Natalya Medvedeva — Princess Apraksia
- Aleksander Shvorin — Sokolnichek (20 years)
- Sergey MartinsonSergey MartinsonSergey Alexandrovich Martinson was a Russian eccentric comic actor, the master of pantomime, buffoonery and grotesque. He became People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1964....
— Mishatychka - Sergey Stolyarov — Alyosha PopovichAlyosha PopovichAlyosha Popovich , alongside Dobrynya Nikitich and Ilya Muromets, is a bogatyr . He is the youngest of the 3 main bogatyrs of Kiev Rus.The three of them are represented together at Vasnetsov's famous painting Bogatyrs....
- Iya ArepinaIya ArepinaIya Alexeyevna Arepina was a Soviet/Russian actress.She was named Best Actress at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Bolshaya Semya, directed by Iosif Kheifits....
— Alyenushka - Mikhail PugovkinMikhail PugovkinMikhail Ivanovich Pugovkin was a Soviet/Russian comic actor named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1988.He studied in the Moscow Art Theatre school under Ivan Moskvin, took part in World War II and, following demobilisation, was featured in the 1944 all-star cast adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The...
— Razumey - Muratbek Ryskulov — Неврюй