Top 6 Captivating Films About Ukrainian History

Ukraine has always been a bulwark of civilisation, a fortress standing between culture and savagery, between the Asian horde and its successor, the Principality of Moscow, and the countries of Europe – the very Wall from "Game of Thrones," beyond which lie the northern wastes inhabited by white walkers. For this reason, Ukraine’s entire history is a story of struggle, a life-and-death battle not only for the safety of the West but also for the very existence of the Ukrainian people as such.

However, no matter how powerful the enemy was, Ukrainians have always proved, and continue to prove today, that they are ready to stand up to any invading hordes for the sake of their country and their people, regardless of how strong and numerous they may be.

"The Legend of Princess Olga" (1983)

Yuriy Illienko, a former cinematographer for Serhiy Parajanov ("Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors") and one of the most significant Ukrainian directors of the Soviet (and partially post-Soviet) era, frequently worked in the genre of historical drama ("A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa") and adapted Ukrainian classics ("The Eve of Ivan Kupala"). One of his most grand-scale works, the multi-layered poetic film "The Legend of Princess Olga," dedicated to the formation of Kyivan Rus, was produced at the Dovzhenko Film Studio in Ukraine. However, it was released exclusively in Russian dubbing, as Soviet authorities decided that Kyiv's princes and princesses should speak only in the "titular" language of the empire.

The plot, which begins with the recollections of Kyiv Prince Volodymyr, who is dying in his chambers, centres around several versions of the life of Princess Olga, one of the most controversial figures in Slavic history. The different interpretations of the same events, seen through the eyes of the youngest Prince Volodymyr, the monk Arepha, and the housekeeper Malusha, show how the interpretation of historical facts depends on the narrator’s perspective and emphasises the importance of a historian’s critical eye that defies the established doctrine.

"Dovbush" (2023)

This historical adventure film by Oles Sanin focuses on Oleksa Dovbush, the main hero of the Ukrainian Carpathian insurgent movement known as the opryshky (a popular resistance movement in Western Ukraine from the 15th to the 19th century). Released in Ukrainian cinemas after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, it has become one of the most expensive Ukrainian historical films to date. The story takes place in the Carpathians at the beginning of the 18th century, as the conflict between the Hutsuls and the oppressive Polish gentry forces two brothers to flee into the mountains and take up arms. Oleksa and Ivan Dovbush seek vengeance against the Polish nobles for the murder of their parents, but their ultimate goals differ: Ivan desires fame and wealth, while Oleksa seeks justice. Gradually, a new Hutsul uprising, led by Oleksa Dovbush, gains momentum.

"Kruty 1918" (2018)

This Ukrainian historical action film centres on the Battle of Kruty, Ukraine's version of the "300 Spartans," one of the most dramatic events of the first Soviet-Ukrainian War. The plot, which focuses on the Ukrainian People's Republic's war with Soviet Russia, is framed by a prologue and epilogue set in modern times, after the beginning of Russia's "hybrid war" against Ukraine in 2014. The prologue begins with a Ukrainian soldier visiting the "In Memory of the Heroes of Kruty" memorial after returning from the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation) zone, showing that, 100 years after the events depicted, the Ukrainian people's struggle against the Russian Empire continues. The main storyline follows the advance of the Red Guard troops on Kyiv in 1917-18. A four-thousand-strong Bolshevik unit led by Colonel Muravyov approaches the capital of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and the first resistance they face comes from 400 Kyiv gymnasium students, volunteers from the Sich Riflemen's Student Company.

"Haytarma" (2013)

This historical drama by Ukrainian Crimean Tatar actor and director Akhtem Seitablaiev clearly and effectively tells the story of the chauvinistic repressive policies of the Stalinist regime towards indigenous peoples, which closely mirrors the policies of Vladimir Putin towards Crimean Tatars in today’s annexed peninsula. The film is based on real events that took place in May 1944 in the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and is dedicated to the Soviet operation of deporting the Crimean Tatars, accused of collaboration, from their native land. The protagonist, a real historical figure, fighter pilot Major Ahmet-Khan Sultan, returns to his family in Alupka for a three-day leave after the liberation of Sevastopol, only to witness the NKVD begin evicting the Crimean Tatars from their homes the following day. Notably, the film's director, who is currently serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, himself returned to Crimea from Uzbekistan only in 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"Mr. Jones" (2019)

Numerous films, both by Ukrainian filmmakers and their Western counterparts, have depicted the 1930s Holodomor in Ukraine. One of the most harrowing and shocking is the Ukrainian film "Famine 33," based on Vasyl Barka’s novella "The Yellow Prince," which tells of a Ukrainian peasant family’s struggle to survive the Soviet terror and collectivisation. The historical drama "Mr Jones" by Polish director Agnieszka Holland offers an outsider's view of these tragic events in Ukrainian history. It tells the story of Gareth Jones, an ambitious British journalist and adviser to the Prime Minister, who arrives in the Soviet Union in 1933 to interview Joseph Stalin and discover the source of the resources fuelling the USSR’s economic "miracle" amidst the global crisis of the 1930s. Despite the Soviet authorities’ strict prohibition on leaving Moscow, Jones secretly follows the trail of Soviet grain on a journey through famine-stricken Ukraine, where he discovers the horrifying truth about the genocide being perpetrated against the Ukrainian people by the Soviet regime. On returning home, Gareth Jones became the first person to try to tell the world about the Holodomor in Ukraine.

"The Guide" (2013)

This Ukrainian historical film explores another never-ending war that Russia wages against Ukraine – the cultural war. The story revolves around an American boy, Peter, whose father, an engineer working in Kharkiv, is killed after becoming entangled in a situation involving documents that compromise the Soviet policy of collectivisation in Ukraine, which led to the Holodomor. Peter manages to escape and is taken in by a wandering blind kobzar (folk musician) named Ivan Kocherga, a former commander in the Ukrainian People's Republic army. Ivan teaches Peter the craft of a guide and tries to help him pass on documents about Stalin's genocide of Ukrainians to the West. The Soviet authorities, attempting to eliminate the blind kobzars as carriers of a foreign, freedom-loving ideology, begin to hunt them down, gathering them all in one place under the pretext of arrests and trickery to exterminate them. At the cost of his freedom and life, the blind kobzar saves Peter and helps him escape the "prison of nations," which the Soviet Union always was.