Taras Bulba

For every scene in which Brynner lifts the picture, there is an equivalent one where Curtis drags it down. They effectively cancel each other out, so that all that is left is a relatively mediocre horse-and-sword adventure.

It seems to be in genre form when showing hordes of Cossack horsemen flying across the steppes to do battle.

After generations of betrayals by their Polish overlords, “Taras Bulba” (Vladimir Medar) and his brotherhood of Cossacks determine that they are going to fight back. His tactics are a bit different, though. Rather than engaging in an head-on battle, he sends his sons “Andrei” (Jean-François Poron) and “Ostapi” (George Reich) to school in Kiev - the heart of their enemy’s territory. Returning as lively adults, familiar with the foibles of the Poles, they are soon ready to head to Lubno and take the battle to their invaders. Unexpectedly, the young “Andrei” is captured and encounters “Natalia” (Lorella De Luca) who just happens to be the daughter of the provincial Governor and with battle lines drawn, this man soon becomes conflicted between his familial loyalties and those to his new love. He manages to escape, but when his father demands that she be provided as a hostage, “Andrei” has to choose. This was released around the same time as the more publicised version with Messrs. Brynner and Curtis et al but except for the more memorable Franz Waxman score this is actually just as good. The authentic looking settings and costumes look good here and the ebullient Medar gets stuck in right from the start of this quickly paced historical drama with plenty of sabre-rattling, gunfire, treachery and only a little bit of cluttering romance. Pride or passion?

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