Taras Bulba

As helmed by director Vladimir Bortko, this Russian-language saga dramatizes the life and experiences of Taras Bulba, a 16th century Cossack leader from Ukraine. Bulba spends his days fighting the Poles, who are oppressing the Ukrainians of the day, and makes his most calculating move by sending his son to study in Poland, so that the boy can learn the ways of the oppressing country. Once there, however, the boy promptly falls in love with a Polish noblewoman. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Cossacks must fiercely stand their ground as Polish armies close in. Bulba's story was previously told in an eponymous 1962 drama by J. Lee Thompson that starred Yul Brynner and Tony Curtis.