Ilya Muromets (film)
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Ilya Muromets, also known in its Russian title Илья Муромец, in the US as The Sword and the Dragon, and in the UK as The Epic Hero and the Beast, is a Russian fantasy film directed by the noted fantasy director Aleksandr Ptushko, made on Mosfilm and released in 1956. It is based on the byliny tales of the bogatyr Ilya Muromets. The film has some differences from the byline but remains surprisingly true to the original epic poems.
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[edit] Plot summary
In medieval Russia, the Asiatic barbarians known as the Tugars are ravaging and pillaging the land along with their fire-breathing three-headed flying dragon. One man pleads to serve the barbarians if he will be spared and promises to be a double agent for them. Meanwhile, the aging giant knight Svyatogor gives his sword to some travellers to be passed on to a new bogatyr. Svyatogor and his horse become a mountain as he dies. The travellers come upon a lone house in the country where the bearded and robust yet cripple Ilya Muromets resides, his legs haven't worked since childhood but he is given a magic potion to drink by the travellers which cures his ailment and is given the legendary sword. The travellers take him in as their son and he grows strong able to lift tree trunks out of the ground and toss huge boulders into the water. He is given a horse and leaves his family to go on his epic journey. He passes by some woods and is confronted by a forest-dwelling monster known as Nightingale the Robber who blows wind so hard it parts the forest backward but Ilya defeats him by throwing a boulder at him. Ilya travels to the capital of Kiev and presents the forest monster to the king, who is impressed and Ilya becomes part of a bogatyr brotherhood with two other knights.
The Tugars send an envoy to the city, a huge zeppelin-like man on a massive moving platform who warns the king to give them their riches as tribute and they will be spared to which Ilya replies by heaving a spear at the stomach of the puffy ambassador cutting him down while the envoy runs off. Ilya finds a wife which bears him a son. Unfortunately the wife is abducted by the Tugars and the young son taken to be trained as a Tugar warrior. The double-agent tricks the king and Ilya is imprisoned for some years in the castle's dungeons while the Tugars continue to destroy the countryside and set up camp outside the city of Kiev ordering all of its riches and Ilya Muromets to be given to the Tugar Khan in order for the city to be spared. Eventually the double-agent is rooted out and put in the dungeons while Ilya is released and allowed to lead the amassed armies of the land against the Tugar hordes. Ilya finds and frees his tied up wife while the Khan starts to move more of his Tugar hordes toward the city of Kiev. Ilya hatches a plan to trick the Khan in which all torn bags will be loaded in carriages and pieces of gold to be put on the ground in intervals of a certain amount of feet in order to deceive the Khan that the gold fell out as it was being transported. Ilya then reveals himself to the Khan who feels insulted by this deceiving and decides to attack anyway, Ilya escapes and goes to prepare his army.
Ilya's son is now grown up and a strong Tugar warrior who is sent to fight Ilya. While they duel, Ilya reveals him to be his son and he joins his father's side. The two other knights in Ilya's brotherhood each lead one army with Ilya leading the center army toward the Tugar hordes. The Khan orders a massive pyramid to be made out of human bodies so that he can survey the forthcoming battle. The three-headed dragon is alerted by the Khan to help in the fight and flies off from his mountain sanctuary to the battle site. More of the Russian soldiers land from ships from a nearby river and fight the fire-breathing dragon assisted by buckets of water from the intense heat until the dragon is decapitated of all three heads. The Tugar hordes are routed and the Khan captured. The victorious Ilya is presented kingship by the current king but declines in order to be with his wife and go on other journeys while giving the title and his sword to his son who continues the heroic lineage.
[edit] Trivia
- Roger Corman re-edited this film in the early 60s for US release, changing many names like Nightingale the Robber being changed to Wind Demon and Svyatogor being changed to Invincor. This version was featured as an episode on Mystery Science Theater 3000 as The Sword and the Dragon.
- The first Soviet movie filmed in Cinemascope with a 4-track Stereo soundmix.
[edit] Covers
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