Yevhen Hutsalo
Writing
Biography
A prominent Soviet Ukrainian writer since the 1960s. A graduate of the Nizhyn Pedagogical Institute (1959), he was first published in 1960 and is the author of over 25 novella and short-story collections, several of them for children. Considered in the 1960s one of the shistdesiatnyky — the postwar generation of writers and cultural activists who rejected Stalinist methods and ideology and pushed for cultural and political liberalization — he subsequently chose the safe life of an official writer over one of opposition to the regime. Hutsalo's works are noted for their detail, lyrical descriptions of nature, psychological portraits, and abundant use of the rural vernacular.
Known For
The series consists of ten films based on love and erotic works of Ukrainian literature from the middle of the 19th century to the present day. The films explore love as a multidimensional phenomenon. This is a kind of retrospective slice of the history of society, culture, and art. There are changes in the attitude towards a woman, mother, lover.
Ostriv lyubovi
A rare astronomical phenomenon — the parade of planets — has a strange effect on several men. The heroes of the film — an astrophysicist, locksmith, salesman, architect, loader, trolley bus driver — are called up for military training, which ends ahead of time. There is a strange pause in their life — no one knows where they are, no one is waiting for them, and they themselves can not rush anywhere. This short respite in a hasty and busy life gives the heroes the opportunity to experience strong and very important feelings for them.
Parade of the Planets
Symbols and political analogies abound in this dramatically frustrating first work by a recent film-school graduate. In the story, Vojtech has survived World War II in a Czech prison following an unjust sentence. Now he is free, and the world is full of possibilities.
Vojtech, Called the Orphan
Vasyl Vilgota raised two sons. One of them died on the fronts of the Second World War, defending the homeland, and the second served as Hilfspolizei. Vilgota himself also helped the Nazis. Although he carefully hides this fact of his biography, there is one man who knows the truth about him.
Straw Bells
While watching Dovzhenko's Earth a young man imagines himself a painter in a Ukrainian village in the 1930s. All is pastoral idyll until the authorities arrive with Soviet wrath for tradition and religion.
Downfall of Dieties
In the urban crowd, an elderly woman suddenly sees an elderly man, whose appearance suddenly brought to mind front-line episodes - fierce battles with the Nazis, rare moments of calm and communication with this fearless soldier, whom she, a nurse, is in love with.
Stop, For a Moment...
A boy named Roman appears in a village—an accidental drifter with no parents and no home. He is driven away from everywhere, yet he harbors no ill will toward anyone.