Heorhiy Astafyev

The film is based on V. Yurezanskyi’s novel The Missing Village about the struggle of Ukrainian Cossacks for their freedom during the reign of Catherine II. Free Cossacks from the village of Turbai in Poltava region, who were included in registers of Myrhorod Pact, suddenly find out that at the order of Catherine II they become the property of the Ukrainian landlord, pan Bazylevskyi. He treats Cossacks like his usual serfs. Cossacks ask the empress for help, but receive no reply. Then, they rebel and set Bazylevskyi’s estate on fire. The owner and his family die during the fire. The vengeance of the Russian empress is terrible, as dozens of Cossacks are beaten to death, and the village of Turbai is doomed to destruction. The film is lost.

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 seamy Jewish underworld of Odesa is the setting for Isaac Babel's story based on the life of gangster king Mishka Yaponchik "Mike the Jap" Vinnitsky. Murder is a way of life for Benya and his gang until he finds himself ensnared in a Bolshevik trap.

The bourgeois wedding of Dekabryukhova is interrupted by the machine-gun fire of revolution. He flees abroad, leaving his wife. Oktyabryukhov stays and adapts to the new life. At the end of the picture there is an attempt at universal reconciliation and the poet's tormenting theme "three-way love". Dekabryuhov returns to his homeland. His wife is already married to Oktyabryukhov. Having learned about it, Dekabryukhov tries to leave, but the newlyweds force him to stay.