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Abstract

This paper aims at examining the political and cultural spectrum of Vladimir Bortko’s film Taras Bulba (2009), a reinterpretation of the novella by Nikolai Gogol (1842). As the film was conceived and released to mark the two centennial anniversary of the writer’s birth, Bortko faithfully follows the path charted out by Gogol in 1842, particularly the infamous “Russification” of Ukranian Cossacks. By heavily referencing to Russian cultural treasures such as Tiutchev’s poem, paintings, and Eisenstein’s film, Bortko reinforces Gogol’s political ideology with regards to Ukrainian Cossacks. Yet Bortko’s film adaptation diverges from the Gogol’s 1842 novella in its treatment of Poland, the representative of Western Europe. Overall, the film appears to reiterate Gogol’s hostility towards the Catholic civilization. Nevertheless, Bortko inserts a significant twist of plot (the episode surrounding the birth of the Polish lady’s son by Andrii) into his film narrative and in so doing, leaves a room for a different vision for future, in comparison with Gogol’s work. Therefore, Bortko’s film interpretation operates in two tracks that beg for discrimination: on the one hand, an affirmation of the Russian identity of Ukrainian Cossacks and, on the other hand, a subtle duplicity of Russia’s relationship with the West.