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| Images courtesy of Dovzhenko Film Studios |
In 1965, Ukrainian actor Ivan Mykolaichuk found himself
catapulted to superstardom with the leading role and release of Sergei
Parajanov’s enduring dose of Ukrainian magical realism with Shadows of
Forgotten Ancestors. Considered the
landmark and pinnacle of Ukrainian cinema and an important monument of magical
realist cinema spoken of the same breath as Aleksandr Ptushko or Rou, the film while
proving problematic for its director targeted by Soviet censors ushered in
Mykolaichuk as an icon of Ukrainian cinema and in particular the folklore
subgenre. Keeping busy in screen roles including
composing the soundtrack for the documentary Kyiv Melodies, Mykolaichuk
crossed paths with Ukrainian film director Borys Ivchenko who himself was on
his third feature with the Russian drama Olesya when the two decided on
collaborating on an adaptation of The Lost Letter in 1972.
Based on the fourth Ukrainian novella The Lost Letter: A Tale
Told by the Sexton of the N…Church derived from Russian novelist Nikolai
Gogol’s 1982 collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (also adapted
into several Soviet films over the years), this musical tragicomedy film concerns
Cossack Vasyl (Ivan Mykolaichuk) who is carrying to Peterberg a hramota or
sealed official document supplied by the hetman through his secretary rumored
to cost ten poods of gold. Sewing the
hramota into Vasyl’s hat before being given magical tobacco to ward off evil,
his wife and father send him off to find a co-journeyman, paving the way for a showcase
of Ukrainian culture including but not limited to cuisines, costumes and
musical traditions. All the while
fending off unexpected obstacles such as an evil servant, he joins forces with
a Zaporozhian Cossack named Andriy (Fedir Stryhun) on their sojourn to deliver
the hramota to the empress of St. Petersburg.
A similarly tragic yet culturally significant pearl of
Ukrainian cinema equidistant to its predecessor Shadows of Forgotten
Ancestors in terms of being both a narrative piece of cinema and a showcase
for Ukrainian culture, Пропала грамота or The Lost Letter became
equally iconic for being banned outright by Soviet censors and it wasn’t seen
until the fall of the Union. Originally
intended to be directed by Viktor Hres starring Anatoly Papanov before unexpected
illness replaced him with Borys Ivchenko, a key factor in the film’s eventual
success and endurance coming from the same studio behind Shadows of
Forgotten Ancestors was the contribution of music and original songs by its
leading actor Ivan Mykolaichuk.
Undoubtedly the signature face and voice of Ukrainian cinema, in this
instance the soundtrack is a mixture of Ukrainian folklore music and original
arrangements by Mykolaichuk, making this his most fully involved endeavor yet,
all of which is captured beautifully in academy ratio by Vitaliy Zymovets.
Though banned by the Soviets outright after inception, the
film nevertheless amassed cult status in Ukraine thanks to the Bureau of Soviet
Cinematography Propaganda in Moscow which published fifty thousand pamphlets of
images of Mykolaichuk in the lead role of Cossack Vasyl sometime in 1973. Eventually after the film’s release, it was
canonized by the Dovzhenko Center as number twelve in the top 100 best films in
the history of Ukrainian cinema. A
unique mixture of Nikolai Gogol, Mykolaichuk’s iconic screen presence as a signature
Cossack and a testament to Borys Ivchenko’s own contribution to Ukrainian
cinema, The Lost Letter is an important piece of Eastern European and
world cinema that against all odds and obstacles prevailed as a unicorn of the
country’s filmmaking output. Now if only
Deaf Crocodile Films or Criterion could do this one up in a proper domestic re-release…
--Andrew Kotwicki
