Another project that fell by the wayside oh so long ago. The Russian animated film, Prince Vladimir.
And oh boy, is it a visual treat.
The film, in a nutshell, is a highly romanticised fantastical version of the (true) story of Prince Vladimir: who was raised Pagan (The film mostly deals with the god, Perun) who after a spiritual awakening, converted Kievan Rus’ to Christianity. (A predecessor state of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) Attempting to thwart Vladimir is an evil pagan sorcerer and (recurring villains in many Russian films set in a similar time-period) the Pechenegs.
Substantial portions of the film take place on the isle of Peryn, where a lot of artefacts regarding the worship of Perun exist to this day.
I hope you’re sitting down for this, dear reader, because this may come as something of a shock to you: In a move most unlike Russia, this film is peppered with propagandistic elements pandering towards the Russian Orthodox Church.
I know, I know. But I assure you: this was the first and last time Russia stooped to propaganda.
Jokes aside, IMDB user Mayflowermay said it best:
A dangerous wind of Russian nationalism is blowing from this movie. A kid who would watch this movie would learn from it that horror can be nothing but heroic and fun while done by Russians-or at least by blondes.
There’s a lot of Russian animation out there, including several gorgeous looking films from rival Melnitsa Animation Studio (on Youtube with English subs) featuring glorious Rus Aryians facing off against the savage (or alternatively cute & incompetent, depending on the film)Turkic hordes. Remember; in actuality these various cultures actually were quite intertwined; it’s called Eurasia for a reason, after all.
Obviously this can conjure up some uncomfortable feelings, especially through a critically thinking adult lens.
The above comments might seem like I’m squating over this film, ready to pinch a strategically dropped loaf on it; I’m not.
I’m aware of the realities of Russian media, and the need to placate the Russian Orthodox Church: the primary sponsor of this film. Yet the film does try to at least offer a little bit of nuance in regards to its depiction of paganism and the quintessential “see, not ALL the Pechenegs are bad” character.
To be fair, I played a county in Crusader Kings 2 that bordered the Pechenegs and they were absolutely vicious. I was in Ironman mode, too. I’m just as valiant as Prince Vladimir in my own way, right? Take a number, ladies; I’ll get back to you.
One of the things I love about Russian animated films is that there’s a complete lack of any sort of consideration for the global audience. In a world where storytelling conventions are increasingly globalized, it’s refreshing to see. This is pure Russian storytelling and it assumes you’re intimately familiar with a lot of these legendary figures, places and customs in the same way people from an Anglo centric background might be with Robin Hood or King Arthur.
This film is also on Youtube with English subtitles, but in 4:3, bad quality and cut into nine parts. One gentleman did kindly do a translation accompanying the videos. It might make for an interesting comparison to this translation.
Anyway, enjoy. The film is beautiful to look at, well-paced, has a great soundtrack and provides an insight into a culture not often explored in the Anglosphere; the memes regarding the Soviet Union and “only in Russia” notwithstanding. Provided you discuss the context and certain depictions contained in the film, it’s also a great film for children who might be “Disneyed Out”. Yes, it’s a little darker and violent, but this was, afterall, primarily a family film.
Unfortunately, it barely broke even. It wasn’t as jovial as the “3 Bogatyrs” franchise, which some mistook this as being a part of (Prince Vladimir is a character in those films, too). People were also put off by the more serious tone and violence coupled with the aforementioned pandering to the Orthodox Church. The video source for this was from a DVD release; no official Blu-ray release ever came out to my knowledge. I did an upscale to 1080p.
GOOGLE DRIVE LINK
Bubby-Subs 