Vasyl Krychevskyi

A film based on works and biography of the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko (1814 - 1861).

In the peaceful countryside, Vassily opposes the rich kulaks over the coming of collective farming.

The momentous film stars Mykola Nademskyi as the grandfather of Tymish (Semen Svashenko), whom he alerts to secret treasure buried in the mountains of Zvenygora – Treasure that rightfully belongs to his homeland. The film wonderfully blends both lyricism and politics and uses its central construct to build a montage praising Ukrainian industrialization, attacking the bourgeoisie, celebrating the beauty of the Ukrainian steppe and retelling ancient folklore. Said Sergei Eisenstein of the film, "As the lights went on, we felt that we had just witnessed a memorable event in the development of the cinema".

The film is based on I. Nechui-Levystkyi’s work The Bargewoman. From dawn till dusk from early childhood, Vasylyna has been working on Pan Jastrzebski’s fields. The young nobleman likes the beautiful girl, and she starts working in his home as a maid. Vasylyna’s happiness does not last long: the man marries a girl of his social class. Vasylyna’s fiancé Vasyl, who feels insulted because of her unfaithfulness, instigates guys to cut off the braid of the landlord’s mistress. Vasylyna runs away from the village and hides from people. Soon, she gives birth to a child who dies shortly. Female workers from a factory find barely alive Vasylyna and help her become a weaver. Vasylyna starts a new life.

The film adaptation of Taras Shevchenko’s biography of 1925 is the first Ukrainian biopic. At that time, it was one of the most expensive films, as for the first time experts in history, ethnography, and literary studies were involved in pre-production. The famous Modernism artist, academician Vasyl Kryvhevskyi designed the film, and professor Serhii Yefremov served as a consultant.  Consisting of numerous short stories, the film that shows the life of Shevchenko as an adolescent, a soldier, a poet, was successfully demonstrated in Ukraine and abroad and became the most acknowledged cinema project of 1926. Amvrosii Buchma played Taras Shevchenko.