''Bulat-Batır'' or ''Bulat-batyr'' ( Russian: Була́т-Баты́р,
Tatar
The Tatars ()Tatar in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different : بولات باتر) is a 1928 silent
historical drama film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and sw ...
, believed to be the first Tatar film and probably the only Tatar full-length feature
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
. The film was shot mostly in
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...
, and the Kazan Kremlin was one of its stills. The film is devoted to the Pugachev rebellion and its alternative names include ''Pugachyovshchina'' (russian: Пугачёвщина), ''Flames on Volga'' and ''Revolt in Kazan''.
The story was written by Abdraxman Şakirov, a young
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
from Agryz and the script was written by Natan Zarhi, a Soviet scenario writer.
Plot
In the 18th century, a small
Tatar
The Tatars ()Tatar in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different village celebrates the
Sabantuy
Sabantuy is a Tatar, Idel-Uralian, Bashkir and Kazakh ('Sabantoy') summer festival, that dates back to the Volga Bulgarian epoch. At first Sabantuy was a festival of farmers in rural areas, but it later became a national holiday and now is wide ...
festival. Orthodox monks accompanied by soldiers appear to forcibly baptize the population of the village. Locals resist and soldiers commit a punitive action. The wife of peasant Bulat is killed by soldiers, his son Asfan is carried off. Bulat stays alone with another son, Asma. 15 years after Bulat and Asma joined the Pugachev rebellion and Bulat became famous as a defender of paupers. But his son Asfan, who was reared among nobles, received a commission and led a punitive force directed to suppress a rebellion in his motherland.
Cast
*Vasiliy Yaroslavtsev as Bulat-Batır
*
Ada Vojtsik
Ada Ignatievna Voytsik (russian: Ада Игнатьевна Войцик; 1 August 19052 September 1982) was a Soviet actress. In 1935 she received the title RSFSR Honored Artist.
Biography
Ada Ignatievna Voytsik was born on 1 August 1905 in Mo ...
as Asma
*Ivan Klyukvin as Asfan
* Galina Kravchenko as Elena von Brandt
*Naum Rogozhin as von Kanits
*Ivan Arkanov as Suleiman Murza
*Nikolai Vitovtov as Derzhavin
*Alexandr Zhukov as Timur
*Boris Yurtsev as Murat
*Eduard Kulganek as general Potyomkin
*Mstislav Kotelnikov as Beloborodov, emissary of Pugachov
* Tatyana Barysheva as genius of victory
*Kayum Pozdnyakov
*Lev Ivanov as Kayum
* Stepan Borisov as Yemelyan Pugachev
Critical reception
It is known that after the premiere in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
one
White émigré
White Russian émigrés were Russians who emigrated from the territory of the former Russian Empire in the wake of the Russian Revolution (1917) and Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and who were in opposition to the revolutionary Bolshevik commun ...
Antonov-Ivanov attempted to burn a copy of the film in the "Concordia" cinema as a sign of protest against "Bolshevik Propaganda".
The film received a positive review from
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
praising it for the authentic atmosphere.Bryher praised the scenery and the cinematography.
See also
*
Bäxtiyär Qanqayev
Bäxtiyär Qanqayev, or Bäxtiyär Qanqay uğlı ( tt-Cyrl, Бәхтияр Канкаев / Канкай углы, pronounced , russian: Бахтияр Канкаев, ''Bakhtiyar Kankayev'') was a colonel in Yemelyan Pugachev's rebel army, joine ...