Salve,
I just saw
this preview on youtube - u la la...
I have seen a number of Russian films on the
Kievan Rus and the Mongols, including the animated
Knyaz Vladimir.
I enjoyed the Russian version of the Chinggis Khan
story (after the Secret History of the Mongols) and the movie
The Horde, thus it appears that this movie Легенда о Коловрате (The Legend of Kolovrat) is looking like an awesome adventure for many an armchair warrior and film aficionado - :) .
The story came down to us from the old Ruthenian epic titled
Повесть о
разорении Рязани Батыем (
The Tale of the Destruction of Riazan).
The plot takes place during the
Mongol invasion of the vast
Kievan Rus (this was not Russia), when the Mongol armies under
Batu Khan destroyed and subjugated all of the Kievan Rus principalities between 1237-40, making the surviving principalities their vassals.
The storyline is more or less about a desperate revenge raid led by the Riazan warlord
Evpaty Kolovrat, a Rus
bogatyr/
vityaz, who went after Batu Khan, of the Golden Horde, and his army. The culminating point or the climax of this story was the duel between Kolovrat and a Mongol champion, Khostovrul, whom Kolovrat killed but the Rus champion was also killed later on. But his heroic death led to Batu recognizing his valor and bravery, and thus making his memory persist and spirit survive amongst the conquered Rus.
artful Russian
animation on the same story.
enjoy
