A film dedicated to the theme of emigration of Galician villagers to Canada at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, “The Stone Cross” was a kind of artistic exploration of the soul of the protagonist. The main idea of the picture is as eternal as life itself: the unity of the peasant with the land. A legendary film of Ukrainian cinema, occupying 5th position in the list of the 100 best films in the history of Ukrainian cinema.
Leonid Osyka’s debut full-length film, significantly different in its uniqueness and style from a cohort of films that were later called examples of “poetic cinema.” A black and white triptych, monolithic and ascetic, created based on the motifs of Vasily Stefanik’s short stories “The Stone Cross” and “The Thief” at the Kyiv Feature Film Studio named after Alexander Dovzhenko.
Ivan Didukh comes from western Ukraine. There he was born and raised, there he worked on lands familiar from childhood. But circumstances force him to leave home to go to work in a foreign land. Responsibility for the family, need and hard labor do not leave the main character. Hope for a better future is fading.
Film crew:
Screenwriter: Ivan Drach
Stage director: Leonid Osyka
Director of photography: Valery Kvas
Production designer: Nikolay Reznik
Composer: Vladimir Guba
Sound engineer: S. Sergienko
Director: Alexander Kozyr
Operator: Oleg Martynov
Make-up artist: N. Blazhevich
Editing director: Marfa Ponomarenko
Editor: L. Chumakova
Consultants: K. Stefanik, Georgy Yakutovich
Instrumental ensemble of the State Symphony Orchestra of the Ukrainian SSR, conductor: Vladimir Kozhukhar
Director of the film: N. Yurieva
Cast:
Daniil Ilchenko - Ivan Didukh;
Borislav Brondukov - thief;
Konstantin Stepankov - Mikhailo, fellow villager;
Vasily Simchich - Georgy, fellow villager;
Antonina Left - son's wife;
Ivan Mykolaichuk - son of Ivan;
Boris Savchenko - son of Ivan;
Ekaterina Mateiko - wife of Ivan Didukh;
Oleksa Atamanyuk is the son of Dmitry and Antonina.
Awards
1968 - Diploma to Valery Kvas for the best cinematography - All-Union Film Festival in Leningrad
1968 - Diploma to Borislav Brondukov for Best Actor - All-Union Film Festival in Leningrad
1995 - First prize to Leonid Osyka for his work on the film "Stone Cross" - film festival of Orthodox art "Golden Oranta"
1997 - The State Prize of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko was awarded to director Leonid Osyka for the films “Stone Cross”, “Zakhar Berkut”, “Name Day Gift”, “Hetman's Kleins”.
Leonid Osyka was perhaps the first in Ukrainian cinema to raise one of the most painful topics in our history - the topic of emigration. Then, in the 19th century, catastrophic and irrevocable processes began, the consequences of which we are still reaping today.
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12 апр 2024
