Across the ages it has been called many things:
The borderland,
the wild fields,
the bread basket of Europe.
But since I was a boy, Ukraine was simply 'home'.
Even as we dreamed of freedom from the Russian tsar,
life went on as it always had.
Moving to the rhythm of the seasons,
waxing and waning in the eternal cycle of seed, plough and reaping.
A life of hard work and small pleasures.
My name is Yuri Kachaniuk.
The son of Yaruslav Kachaniuk.
And the grandson of the famous warrior Ivan Kachaniuk.
My Ukraine was a world where legends lived.
And anything was possible.
Yuri!
Before I grew up and learned, that dragons were real,
and evil roamed the world,
I fell in love.
From the moment I saw her, I could think of nothing else.
I dreamed of growing up to marry her,
of loving her forever.
As the Bolshevik revolution raged its way towards us,
I could think only of Natalka.
This is the one that's bewitched you?
You see this bell?
It used to warn the village when the Tartar hordes invaded, tried to conquer us,
take away our freedom.
Like the tsar did?
Yes.
They can never break your spirit.
No one!
No one can ever take away your freedom!
You remember that!
Yuri, my son. You try!
They've killed the tsar.
- The Bolsheviks? - In Yekaterinburg!
Now Ukraine can be free.
The revolutionaries have killed the tsar.
Give him back the sabre.
He needs to learn how to fight for our country,
grow up a free man.
He's different.
The death of the tsar brought a few glorious years of independence to Ukraine.
But it was soon crushed by the Soviets.
The people were forced to agree to a style of communism
that was demanded by the Soviet leader, Lenin.
Again? It's a new age, Yuri!
It's our duty to the state to inform and influence,
not indulge in selfish desires.
- He's right! Artists are flocking to Kiev. Come with us! - I can't leave.
Yes... 'cause you're in love.
Ask her to marry you and she can come with us, too.
- Ask her! - Yeah, I have... many times!
- And? -And she says that I don't know what i'm getting myself into.
Then you need to woo her. Write her a poem.
- I'm no poet. - Sing her a love song.
Me? Sing?
Well, then, ask her to sit for you
and do a real portrait,
instead of these fanciful doodles.
Let me paint you!
Why?
Because you're beautiful.
Where would you like to paint me?
In the forest, where we used to play as children.
- Oh, I see. - I will paint you as a rusalka.
Frolicking by the water... naked.
Natalka! Please, let me paint you.
We said woo her! Is that it?
Natalka, come with us.
Come to Kiev.
- Leave the village? - Yes.
I have an uncle, Josef, and he can get Yuri a job at the factory.
You must come.
That's the future, Natalka.
So, what made you change your mind?
You seemed so desperate.
Well, you are here.
That's all that matters.
Don't make more of this than what it is.
Of course not.
- I just need you to understand- - I don't care.
What difference does it make to me whether your parents are married or not.
You think you don't, but you will!
You don't understand what it's like to not be accepted by others,
judged by your neighbours. Why seek that trouble if you have a choice?
Choice?
- You think I have a choice? - No! Don't start!
No, I haven't had a choice about how I felt since the moment I saw you.
Do you understand the real world?
Yes I do!
We can face it together.
Tonight at the festival when you ask the gods... you'll see!
We belong together.
Will I ever marry?
You shouldn't love me.
I only bring you misfortune.
Oh, I have been a fool for lesser things.
Don't run away from me, Natalka.
Marry me!
But, Comrade Stalin, Comrade Lenin tried to collectivise.
He targeted the intelligentsia, the church, the peasants.
The Ukrainians rebelled.
- They flourished! - Lenin was too lenient.
Syphilis had softened his brain.
Ukraine must be taught to bow to our will.
Without its huge mineral wealth and vast harvests of grain,
Russia cannot exist.
So, Koba, how do you propose we proceed?
We implement Lenin's plan,
but without mercy.
God bless you.
Finish your prayer, priest. We need to talk.
Tell me: Where is the churches gold and silver?
You think these peasants need all these material objects to worship their god?
And what object of value hung there?
Where is the icon?
- Dimitri! - Sir!
I will return.
In the meantime... I suggest you pray to your god.
Not that it'll do you any good.
Take this!
They're coming.
- The Bolsheviks? - Yes.
- Sound the alarm! - Let me come with you.
- Do as your grandfather says. - Go, Yuri, go!
Yuri, raise the alarm. Go!
I am Commissar Sergei Koltsov.
You are Boyko?
I see, Boyko, you own a horse...
a cow...
land.
Do you hire help to manage the land?
Then you are kulak.
A privileged class, an enemy of the state.
Bastards! Blood-sucking bastards.
I am a poor peasant.
That's for the state to decide.
If you cooperate, you'll be ailowed to live in the cooperative.
You mean on my own land?
If you don't, you'll either be jailed...
or shot.
When will the state decide?
It already has.
You leave at sundown.
If not, you'll be arrested for trespassing on state iand.
What do you want with this man?
He's an enemy of the state.
An enemy? That's nonsense.
Brother, you and your family are welcome to stay with us.
- And who are you? - Free men!
After them!
Papa!
No one... no one can ever take away your freedom!
Remember that.
God be with you, my son.
Have you seen the old man?
I hear he's still alive.
Don't lie to my, priest!
- It's a sin! - We're all sinners.
Then you've been praying, comrade?
- Every day. - And has your God produced the icon?
No, he has not.
Do you know why?
Because there is no God.
No evil, no sin, no hell.
It's all a delusion.
Hell is the inability to love!
This is the last of it.
Comrade, we'll start building the cells in the morning.
Enough! That's enough grain.
We're moving out.
I love you! Show yourself I want to see you!
Come out! I want to see you!
- Natalka! My Natalka! - Don't!
No, no... I love you! Come with me... please!
Taras, you're drunk.
- Please! I love you! - Stop it!
Taras! She's marrying Yuri!
Where are you going?
I'm going to see our friends before they leave for Kiev.
Your friends are cowards.
They think they can fight battles, using music.
And words.
Yuri tried to help.
- He's trying to be more like you. - He's not like me!
And he's nothing like his father.
Please! Come, Yuri.
My uncle can get you work.
Look! The state is inviting artists.
I can't leave. Not now.
Not untiI Natalka's mother recovers.
We'll come... as soon as she's better.
I'll join you as soon as I can.
Good bye.
Look after yourself.
Unless we end our economic backwardness,
our enemies in the west will destroy us.
Every man, woman and child must do their duty to feed the workers.
Have the state requisition more of the harvest, up to 90% if necessary.
But, Comrade Stalin, that will be a death sentence for the farmers.
The revolution depends on it!
Think of the greater good.
He's probably right, Koba.
This could mean the death of millions.
Who in the world will know?
Those caught stealing grain have received justice.
But the collective of this village has failed.
You did not meet your grain quota.
Consequently, Comrade Stalin has ordered an increase.
All over Ukraine it's the same. You must double production this year,
or you will suffer the consequences.
Much of the harvest was lost to weather.
- Or stolen? - That's a lie!
We don't have enough horses to plough the fields.
Why is that, comrade?
- We had to eat them! - That is why Comrade Stalin brought you tractors,
modern mechanical means to meet your responsibilities.
And you repay him by stealing from the state?
That's what I call ingratitude.
We know you're hiding grain.
Sign!
Join the coilective.
Life will be much better.
Our seizure of church property has not been as lucrative as we hoped.
Despite the crackdown, collectivisation is still slow.
I've already started shipping the kulak leaders to Siberia,
but resistance is strong and spreading.
If we do not stop it, we could lose Ukraine.
They think they have choices when they have only one.
Push them, crush them!
Where is the grain? Where is it?
- You want me to sign this? - The land belongs to the state.
You, your icon, your land...
...all belong to the state now.
Here, take the knife.
It was father's.
It's time for you to leave.
Before you leave, I want you to hold
the ancient and holy spirit of our village.
The icon of Saint Yuri.
The symbol of our faith.
And here... a father's dream.
Had I gone... he would still be alive.
Go to Kiev!
Go and become the artist you've always dreamed of being.
It's what your father would have wanted.
Hold me...
as long as you can!
Come on. We can do this on the train all you like.
I'm not coming.
What?
Not yet.
No, no, no... I can't go without you.
- I won't- - You have to!
In Kiev there's work for you and you can send back money so we can eat.
To be away from you, I-
No, I... I'll die...
It's just until Mother's better. Than I can be with you.
Yuri!
Kiev is where you belong.
I love you.
Wear it close to your heart.
I don't think I'm that handsome.
You have the gift.
Thank you.
Where are you off to?
Kiev.
- To work in a factory. - With your talent?
- I have a duty to my family. - We all have duties.
But you... are an artist!
And you have a duty to let the world know the truth,
any way you can.
Please, please... help me!
- Have mercy on me, please... - Scum!
- She's begging for food. - There is food.
Plenty of food.
That's the official party line:
No famine!
Just a food shortage.
No 'starvation'... instead, 'widespread malnutrition'.
This is where I have to leave you.
- What are you doing? Stop this! - Be quiet.
You can't do this.
- You are spreading western propaganda. - You can't do this.
- The whole world will hear this! - You come with us.
Get him up... let's go!
...but a common action to help us prosper.
Let's educate people about what we're trying to do.
Alright, we'll reconvene in the morning.
Mykoia!
Finally he's here!
Did I hear the call of a Kachaniuk?
- Comrade, these are for copying, yes? - Excellent work.
What happened? You're so grown-up.
The world grew up. We're just taking part.
Time for a catch-up, young man.
A drink! God, yes!
Don't let the party hear you say 'God'. Yuri, how is Natalka?
Don't let Mykola hear...
Are you still in love with her? Even after you were so gracious in defeat?
I was.
Let it be my sad epitaph, I was gracious in defeat.
We're making progress.
There's so much hope in the city.
We're on the cusp of national renaissance.
- Things are really changing. - Yes, but how?
To what end?
The things I've seen in just one day...
something is terribly wrong.
Every new system has its growing pains, of course.
- The winter was bad for the harvest. - No, it's worse than that.
There are Soviets in our village, forcing the collectivisation of our farms.
Violently.
And just arriving, I have seen people starving, left to rot like garbage.
I mean, you've walked the streets. You must have seen it.
There are severe hardships,
just as there were under the tsar.
We have our own freedom now,
an opportunity to push on,
to reorganise society so that everyone gets their fair share.
This is Stalin's true vision.
Kaganovich... haven't I had you shot?
Do you not drink with your comrades?
I bring news from Ukraine.
I told you to crush them. Why do you fail me over and over?
They rise up because they are starving.
- The more ruthless our methods, the more they resist. - Damn those Ukrainians.
Take all their food.
Notjust the grain... everything!
Close the food stores and banks.
Transport the food out. Close the borders. Keep them in.
Do not let one of them leave.
Leave it!
Darling Yuri,
thank you for your letters which come to me like a beacon in the dark.
Come on...
Things are worse here. The quotas keep rising,
we get to keep less of the harvest,
and more and more people grow hungry.
Mother was released from her suffering.
I miss her so.
She must have whispered a blessing on her journey,
Yuri, because I got wonderful news.
I'm carrying our child.
This great joy gives me such hope
that I can soon join you in Kiev and truly hear your voice and feel your touch.
I look at the moon and dream of you.
Please do the same and know that I'll always be yours.
Love, Natalka.
What wonderful news!
A child! Our child!
You must now come to Kiev so I can take care of you.
I've been accepted into the academy,
so despite these terrible times, I have great hopes for our future.
Perfect!
- Thank you. - Too perfect.
Too fanciful.
Come back!
As an artist, you must find the truth,
not escape from it.
How?
With light.
With light you find the truth.
Have you read André Breton's 'Manifeste du surréalism'?
Seen the works of Salvador Dalí?
Pablo Picasso?
Do you dream?
Yes, of course.
Well, then, express yourself through your subconscious,
through dreams.
Reality is the enemy!
Why, Dido?
I don't want you to be forced into whoring for food.
What difference does it make?
We're all going to die!
My darling, I am desperate for news of you.
No letters for weeks makes me fear the worst.
Ifwe're going to be judged, then let us be judged by members of the civilised world,
and not by red Soviet imperialism,
to that higher court that Stalin never would want to be a part of.
Ukraine has so much to share culturally with other countries of Europe.
The Europe of Darwin, of Goethe,
of Byron, Newton and, of course, Marx.
Ukrainians can be proud once again.
Inspired by the words of the great Taras Shevchenko,
by the roar of the Dnieper River,
the whisper of the endless steppe.
Inspired to develop our culture and take our rightful piace
among the great nations of the world.
Taras and I are so proud of Mykola.
He has become leader of the Ukrainian Communist Party
and a great inspiration to the spirit of the national movement.
But we all sense a change,
a darker, more oppressive atmosphere.
A loss of freedoms: Meetings, free discussions...
even travel... all are becoming restricted.
Passport!
It's hideous!
Reactionary.
You must paint uplifting images of the Soviet Union!
Like factories and tractors?
You are no artist...
- you are an enemy of the state! - Where is Professor Temchuk?
I demand to speak to him!
Then you will have to go to Siberia.
All self-expression and individualism is being suppressed
in favour of a conformist Soviet style.
This is not art.
I have been forced to leave the academy
and found work as a rag and bone man,
where we traffic in the keepsakes of ghosts, the ones we have lost in this terrible famine.
What are you doing! Get to work!
The people from the countryside,
who have flocked to the city in search of food, starve.
The others, the factory workers, have plenty to eat.
Please, heip us.
Mama... wake up.
Trust me, Natalka,
...I will not fail.
I will make it home to you soon.
They've started arresting all the Ukrainian party leaders.
They will be with you soon.
Get away if you can!
My dear brotherYuri,
don't grieve!
You were right.
Stalin has betrayed us all.
Be calm!
I was a fool to believe I could be a Ukrainian patriot and a communist.
And I was a fool to have been in love with my best friend's wife.
Save yourself,
like I could not!
To a fire that burned brightly but was extinguished too soon.
To Mykola, our friend.
To Mykola!
To all Ukrainian nationals.
May they continue to save us ammunition.
Don't let them spoil our memory.
To Ukraine!
To freedom!
Enough of that Ukrainian folk shit!
Play Kalinka! Long live Joseph Stalin.
- Play Kalinka! - No, no, no, piease-
Come on! In there.
Keep going.
Stay in the line.
Get in line!
Make ready!
Aim!
Fire!
Get in line!
Who will take care of my family?
Make ready!
Aim!
Hold your fire!
Yuri!
What are you doing?
Kachaniuk, i'm speaking with you.
What's that scratching? You digging your way out?
- I'm drawing. - You're drawing?
What?
My wife.
On your knees.
Paint me.
I'll need my paints and my brushes.
And a favour in return.
What?
Let me write a final letter to my wife.
My darling,
I'm in prison for murder.
Mykola is dead.
I don't know what happened to Taras, but i fear the worst.
Fire!
There is death all around me here.
But having someone to live for gives me courage and hope.
I will live for you!
And our child!
I believe with all of my being we will be together again.
- I'll be with Kachaniuk - Yes, Sir!
So, when can I see it?
Please, we're almost done.
Make certain you capture my jawline. It's my best feature.
No, comrade, it is your eyes.
May I?
There...
The light, it picks up your eyes.
It illuminates your soul.
Please stay... exactly as you are.
My eyes are good, but...
I really must see what sort of work you've done. So...
You have no soul.
Escape!
Natalishka...
It's alright.
It's for you. Put it on.
Wait.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We must save ourselves or die.
Yes. Borscht with mushrooms, my favourite.
- Did your mother used to make- - Never mention her!
Never!
Do you make love as well as you cook?
- You poisoned me. - No!
- No, commissar- - Kiss me, you bitch!
Don't!
Mama!
Oh, Natalka!
You're safe.
I didn't dishonour the family.
Here. It's written by Stalin. I took it from the commissar's headquarters.
There's revolts happening around the country, something the regime keeps silent.
We must continue the resistance.
The women will organise a revolt. We'll be less likely to be shot.
- What's going on? - Food for the people!
- We want our grain! - You want us to starve? Is that what you want?
Hold your fire!
Maria! Maria!
Maria!
Vlodio... look at me.
It's your fault your wife was killed. I should have you all shot.
Please, Commissar, have mercy.
- Mother! - Please, Commissar,
let me bury her.
I don't know where my children are.
- Without Maria- - I'm a compassionate man.
I will prove to you that I am merciful
and that the Soviet system is just.
I will release you.
You can bury your wife.
But you must promise me you'll join the collective.
- Rot in hell! - I'll see you there.
Marko, come.
What would you give to save your family?
Everything.
Except my soul.
Wash my feet.
Now dry them.
No...
with your hair.
Dry them.
Bring me the icon of Saint Yuri.
And you and your family will be free.
- This is blasphemy! - No...
it's freedom.
We've been watching you. You aren't a Soviet.
- Who are you? - Yuri Kachaniuk.
- And you? - Lubko Stefaniuk.
We are orphans.
- Where is your village? - Nearby, but it's not save.
Will you help us?
Yes.
Lubko, do you know where the train station is?
I need to get to Smiia.
Are we going to shoot each other or eat?
It depends.
- Who are you? - They're friends.
Who are you?
Yuri Kachaniuk.
From Smila.
Kachaniuk?
My grandfather was Ivan.
- The Wild Boar? - Yes.
My grandfather fought with him.
He saved his platoon, appeared out of nowhere. He's a legend.
If you're his grandson, you can fight with us.
Tomorrow, with the local villagers, we'll ambush a Soviet unit.
Don't fall asleep!
Keep going!
Stay in formation.
We'll give the bastards no breathing room, no chance to regroup.
Forward, brothers!
No!
You fool!
Yuri, wake up!
We have to go... now!
Please, take me with you.
I'll take you to the train.
Please! You promised to help me.
Come on. There's a boxcar at the end of the train.
We'll be safe in here.
Can somebody take me?
- Get lost. - Please... my child!
We're here.
Soviet thief!
Yvgeny?
Get in the truck.
Now.
Do you know what you've done to our country?
- Yuri! - You have destroyed everything.
I was in the Red Army.
I know Ukrainians are starving, Kazakhs, Byelorussian Jews.
But I was under orders.
- Orders? - Yuri, no!
Pull over.
Get out.
This grain...
how long will it keep your peopie alive?
If I can save one life, that's enough for me.
Yuri!
Kill him.
He's a Soviet.
They're starving us all.
Kill him!
No!
Kill him!
How do I know you won't turn us in?
I could have shot you at any time.
Vlodio?
Vlodio, it's me.
Yuri!
I thought you were dead.
Maria? Marko? The children?
I'm sorry.
Vlodio, I have a truck full of grain.
Feed the people. Then come to my home.
Is it still there?
You're alive!
Thank God!
- Forgive me. - For what?
I have been gone too long.
- Let me look at you. - Sorry.
What could you possibly be sorry for?
Yuri, I lost our baby.
We have our own miracle.
Lubko!
This is Lubko. He saved my life.
He has no parents.
He has us now.
Yuri...
Mama?
It's me... Yuri.
Try to eat a little piece.
Just a little.
Please.
- What is it? - Soup.
Of thistle and grass.
God has forgiven us.
What could he possibly have to forgive us for?
Yuri...
...I traded the icon for food.
I had to.
To save your grandfather, but Sergei lied.
He still has him prisoner.
It's okay.
I have been painting icons of Saint Yuri since I was a child.
What you traded...
was merely one of them.
This is the real icon.
Mama... you see?
God has not forsaken you.
She's at peace, with your father.
She's with him now.
You must hide this.
We are the safe keepers now.
- We'll take it with us. - Where?
We'll cross into Poland and then make our way to Canada, America,
where we can tell the world what Stalin is doing to the people of Ukraine.
But first I must free my grandfather.
Wait!
We still have your grandfather's sabre.
Come on!
Dido!
We're leaving tonight, for Lviv.
Forgive me. I'm such an old fooi.
Dimitri!
Dido!
Fire! Don't let them escape!
It's about time I killed you, old man.
Go ahead! Kill me!
My grandson will have his revenge.
The painter?
The warrior!
We'll be free.
Have a farm, more children.
It's the river! We're at the border.
We'll soon be in Poland.
Come on!
- Go without me! - No, not this time.
Natalka! Come on! We'll be together.
My name is Yuri Kachaniuk, son of Yaruslav Kachaniuk,
grandson of the famous warrior Ivan Kachaniuk.
Before I grew up and learned that dragons were real,
and evil roamed the world,
I fell in love.