In the past five years, a number of mainstream, partly state-funded animated features about the mythology and history of medieval Rus’ were made in Russia. They include Aliosha Popovich and Tugarin the Dragon (2004), Dobrynia Nikitich and Gorynych the Dragon (2006), Ilia of Murom and Nightingale the Robber (2007), and Prince Vladimir: The Choice (2006). The first trio describes individual stories of the most famous bogatyrs (knights). Aliosha, Dobrynia, and Ilia are mythologized historic individuals, who became the subject of byliny (epic medieval tales). This sort of magic realism lends itself well to producing cartoons to entertain and educate at the same time. The overall humorous tone and full-feature animation format -- Hollywood imports -- help deliver these Slavic folk tales to contemporary technologically-spoiled children.Prince Vladimir: The Choice (2006) is the most noteworthy example in this selection. It describes Vladimir the Red Sun, prince of Novgorod and, later, Kiev, and his early rise to power. The film was produced with funding from state Channel 1, an official blessing from the Russian Patriarch (!), no less, and became one of the highest-grossing releases for that year. It targets an older audience than the aforementioned cartoons, and is thus more serious in tone. More importantly, its creators make a rather honest attempt to depict the physical and spiritual universe that eastern Slavs inhabited at the tail-end of the first millennium: this work (part one of two) discusses the events before Vladimir’s acceptance of Christianity in 988.
The historic setting allows the filmmakers to show the coexistence of Slavic Paganism, focused on Perun (Scandinavian Thor), and early Christianity in Rus’. Pagan gods are portrayed as personification of natural forces. By and large, these forces are just: they reject a sacrifice from an evil character, but offer help to good men. Byzantium, a cultural center, is (perhaps, more expectedly) shown in positive light, too, particularly when it comes to the attempts to make peace between different principalities in Rus’ and the conversion of one of the main characters to Orthodox Christianity. This animated feature also shows the historic interaction between Slavs and Scandinavians in the region, including Olaf Tryggvason’s service as one of Vladimir’s men-at-arms in Novgorod.
Of course, these films are romanticized and not perfect. Several anachronisms range from folk dancing to the sounds of contemporary electronic music to incorrect chronology of Pecheneg invasions and making the sign of the cross with three fingers rather than two (Old Believer-style). However, by and large, they show a remarkable level of respect to epic folk tales and historic records they source.
Beyond the attempt at historicity, the filmmakers depict a traditional value system, in which the elders’ wisdom is revered, and in which boys are trained to become real men at war and at peace. Alex Kurtagic recently wrote that the quality of pop culture is of vital importance in the context of independent art production. But, it certainly helps when government bureaucrats actually get it too.
