Urban Media Archive
Укр
Center for Urban History
6 Bohomoltsia Str. Lviv 79005, Ukraine

Stew

Videos and films

ID:
62496
Place
Rozhdestvenske village (Chernihiv region)
Date:
1982
Genre:
Amateur film
Technique:
16 mm film
Duration:
00:13:18 min
Color:
black and white
Sound:
Magnetic tape
Creator
Dmytro Kozel
Collection
Volnytsia People's Film Studio
Description
The film contains an amateur feature film, a comedy sketch about a hunting incident:

Rural hunters are preparing for a trip into the woods. On the porch of a house, a wife helps her husband (Mykola Cherstvyi) pack for the hunt—handing him vodka, lard, and dried fish. In the courtyard of another home, a grandfather draws water from a well as he gets ready to head into the forest in a GAZ-69, accompanied by his granddaughter and her small puppy. Elsewhere, a group of hunters rides out with their sheepdogs in the back of a UAZ-3303 truck. In the forest, the grandfather and granddaughter cross paths with the hunters. They examine the puppy with curiosity before setting off to hunt together. Meanwhile, back in the village, the truck driver (Mykola Hrytsai) stops by the home of one of the hunters. His wife brings in firewood and brushwood while smoke rises from the chimney. In the woods, the grandfather lights a fire and prepares a stew. The aroma attracts a wolf. The grandfather scares it off with rifle shots. The frightened puppy hides in the trees and accidentally gets its collar caught on a branch. The grandfather frees the dog, unaware that the collar has slipped off and fallen into the pot of stew. The truck driver returns to the forest. The hunters gather for lunch. They drink vodka and share the stew. One of them bites down on the puppy’s collar. Outraged, the hunters’ meal is ruined, and some begin acting like dogs—crouching, digging in the snow, barking. The granddaughter eventually brings her grandfather the soup-stained collar. The puppy happily gnaws on a piece of meat. The grandfather takes a drag on his cigarette and looks straight into the camera.

The film is driven primarily by musical sound design, with occasional overlays of barking dogs and indistinct purring mimic human speech, adding to the comic tone. The soundtrack features a choral rendition of the folk song Valenky as well as the song Oh, There’s a Willow in the Field (“Ой у полі верба”).
Language:
Russian, Ukrainian
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