Prince Vladimir (film)

Plot

The plot follows the events surrounding Vladimir from childhood and into adulthood.

In the beginning of the film, there were three pagan princes who ruled ancient Rus': Vladimir of Novgorod, Oleg of Kiev, and Yaropolk, under the guidance of the wise volkhvy priests. The land was peaceful until a power-hungry student of one of the volkhvy killed his master, who cursed him and gave him the name "Krivzha" (meaning "crooked"). As a high pirest and in his quest for dominance, he conspires with the Pecheneg khan Kurya to pillage Slavic villages to undermine the authority of the Slavic princes. Krizha also influences Prince Vladimir to become a cruel ruler. Vladimir attempts to kill his brother Yaropolk, accusing him of killing Oleg.

Regretting the murder of his brother Yaropolk by his brother Dobrynya, Vladimir does not suspect a conspiracy between the priest and the Pechenegs. Vladimir is concerned about gathering the Slavic tribes into one united state. Solving this major task, he faces obstacles, which Vladimir overcomes in the end, defeating Krivzha and winning the battle against Kurya.

Characters

Background

Production started in 1997 with research into the customs of the time period as well as character design. Originally, the story was to be told through a series of 30-minute shorts, but the idea was scrapped. The first proposal presentation of Prince Vladimir took place on April 17, 2000, at the Russian Cultural Fund. Soon after, work began in earnest, and about 120 animators were employed on the film. At the 2002 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Prince Vladimir was named one of the world's 12 most anticipated upcoming animated films. The first official presentation of the finished film took place on February 3, 2006, for the press.

A sequel, Prince Vladimir - The Feat (Князь Владимир. Подвиг) was scheduled for release in 2008.

Reception

Many in the public thought that the film was part of the light-hearted "3 bogatyrs" trilogy by Melnitsa Animation Studio (the second film in the trilogy, Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey Gorynych, was due for release on March 16), and were surprised and dismayed at the film's serious tone. Critical reaction was relatively positive, but mixed. Critics praised the film's art and animation but criticized it for its inaccurate portrayal of the historical period and for perceived ideological pandering to its main sponsor, the Russian Orthodox Church.

It is the highest-grossing Russian animated film of all time, taking in $5.8 million since its release, and is the third highest-grossing animated film within Russia (behind Madagascar and Flushed Away). It cost $5 million to make, however (far more than Melnitsa's films, which are made for about $300,000 or a million), the film is thought to have either lost money or narrowly broken even.