Yurii Illienko

Directing

Yurii Illienko

Born — Died

1936-05-09 — 2010-06-15

Place of birth

Cherkasy, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Ukraine]

Known for

Directing

Credits

34 titles

Yuri Illienko (18 July 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Ukrainian film director and screenwriter. He directed twelve films between 1965 and 2002. His 1970 film The White Bird Marked with Black was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Golden Prize. Illienko was one of Ukraine's most influential filmmakers. His films represented Ukraine and what was happening to it. His films were banned in the USSR for their suspected anti-Soviet symbolism. Only in the recent years have his films been re-released and open to the public. Illienko was born in Cherkasy in 1936 but during World War II his family was evacuated to Siberia while his father was in the Red Army. He grad…

Known for

To Remember poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

To Remember

1993

The Eve of Ivan Kupalo poster
7.0

Petro is a modest farmhand living in an impoverished village in some unspecified long-ago era. He wants to marry the lovely Pidorka, but her stern father won't hear of it. The mischievous demon Basavriuk, offers a deal, enticing Petro into crime for the sake of fortune.

The Eve of Ivan Kupalo

1968

A Story of the Forest: Mavka poster
5.9

Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The spirit of the forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.

A Story of the Forest: Mavka

1980

A Strip of Uncut Wild Flowers poster
5.1

A story of two delinquent boys at a boarding school, struggling to cope with fathers who abandoned them, and retreating into fantasy.

A Strip of Uncut Wild Flowers

1979

Swan Lake: The Zone poster
6.2

A convict is forced to hide within a model of a hammer and sickle. Here a tragic romance ensues between the convict and woman worker; which is spoilt by the woman's jealous young son. The convict is then forced to undergo a tragic bid for freedom which ends with the beauty of swans contrasted with the imprisoned convicts and the hopeful but ultimately tragic wait by the woman for her lover.

Swan Lake: The Zone

1990

The Feast of the Baked Potato poster
6.4

Drama about Aleksandra Avramovna Derevskaya (1902-1959), who, between the two wars - the Civil and Great Patriotic War, raised 48 orphan children of different nationalities. After her death, each birthday, her large family gathers at the table, to preserve the tradition of serving baked potatoes, which was a favorite dish of the household head.

The Feast of the Baked Potato

1978

Film credits

1990s · 5 titles

1970s · 1 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

The Eve of Ivan Kupalo poster
7.0

Petro is a modest farmhand living in an impoverished village in some unspecified long-ago era. He wants to marry the lovely Pidorka, but her stern father won't hear of it. The mischievous demon Basavriuk, offers a deal, enticing Petro into crime for the sake of fortune.

The Eve of Ivan Kupalo

1968

The Eve of Ivan Kupalo poster
7.0

Petro is a modest farmhand living in an impoverished village in some unspecified long-ago era. He wants to marry the lovely Pidorka, but her stern father won't hear of it. The mischievous demon Basavriuk, offers a deal, enticing Petro into crime for the sake of fortune.

The Eve of Ivan Kupalo

1968

A Story of the Forest: Mavka poster
5.9

Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The spirit of the forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.

A Story of the Forest: Mavka

1980

A Story of the Forest: Mavka poster
5.9

Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The spirit of the forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.

A Story of the Forest: Mavka

1980

A Strip of Uncut Wild Flowers poster
5.1

A story of two delinquent boys at a boarding school, struggling to cope with fathers who abandoned them, and retreating into fantasy.

A Strip of Uncut Wild Flowers

1979

A Strip of Uncut Wild Flowers poster
5.1

A story of two delinquent boys at a boarding school, struggling to cope with fathers who abandoned them, and retreating into fantasy.

A Strip of Uncut Wild Flowers

1979

Swan Lake: The Zone poster
6.2

A convict is forced to hide within a model of a hammer and sickle. Here a tragic romance ensues between the convict and woman worker; which is spoilt by the woman's jealous young son. The convict is then forced to undergo a tragic bid for freedom which ends with the beauty of swans contrasted with the imprisoned convicts and the hopeful but ultimately tragic wait by the woman for her lover.

Swan Lake: The Zone

1990

Swan Lake: The Zone poster
6.2

A convict is forced to hide within a model of a hammer and sickle. Here a tragic romance ensues between the convict and woman worker; which is spoilt by the woman's jealous young son. The convict is then forced to undergo a tragic bid for freedom which ends with the beauty of swans contrasted with the imprisoned convicts and the hopeful but ultimately tragic wait by the woman for her lover.

Swan Lake: The Zone

1990

The Feast of the Baked Potato poster
6.4

Drama about Aleksandra Avramovna Derevskaya (1902-1959), who, between the two wars - the Civil and Great Patriotic War, raised 48 orphan children of different nationalities. After her death, each birthday, her large family gathers at the table, to preserve the tradition of serving baked potatoes, which was a favorite dish of the household head.

The Feast of the Baked Potato

1978

A Spring for the Thirsty poster
7.1

A parable centering on an old man who lives a secluded life in the desert, alone with only his memories and photographs. His wellspring, once a source of joy and hope for thirsty passersby, is now rarely used. No longer able to find comfort in his memories, he turns all his photographs to face the walls.

A Spring for the Thirsty

1965

A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa poster
5.3

During an interesting era in the history of Eastern Europe when Russia, under Peter the Great, and Sweden, under King Charles XII, struggled for power, Ukraine was the pawn in the middle. In 1709, Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire, signed a pact with the Swedish king promising to support Sweden in its war against Russia provided that Ukraine was given its independence.

A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa

2003

A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa poster
5.3

During an interesting era in the history of Eastern Europe when Russia, under Peter the Great, and Sweden, under King Charles XII, struggled for power, Ukraine was the pawn in the middle. In 1709, Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire, signed a pact with the Swedish king promising to support Sweden in its war against Russia provided that Ukraine was given its independence.

A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa

2003

To Dream and to Live poster
7.0

The script about loneliness, conformity and the impossibility of creative realization scared the editorial censorship at the studio, and then at Derzhkino. A lot of claims were made against him. The demands for amendments and endless additions and rewrites by the authors lasted for about a year. The original version of the title "Na pokhony!" ("To bow down!") was replaced by "To Dream and to Live". According to Pylyp Ilyenko, the director's eldest son, this name appeared "as a result of censor pressure." Censorship stopped the tape 40 times: at the stage of the literary script, director's, during film tests (the actors were not approved), filming, etc. The film catastrophically fell apart into fragments, into masterfully filmed, but unrelated scenes. The director called the finished version a "dead film".

To Dream and to Live

1975

To Dream and to Live poster
7.0

The script about loneliness, conformity and the impossibility of creative realization scared the editorial censorship at the studio, and then at Derzhkino. A lot of claims were made against him. The demands for amendments and endless additions and rewrites by the authors lasted for about a year. The original version of the title "Na pokhony!" ("To bow down!") was replaced by "To Dream and to Live". According to Pylyp Ilyenko, the director's eldest son, this name appeared "as a result of censor pressure." Censorship stopped the tape 40 times: at the stage of the literary script, director's, during film tests (the actors were not approved), filming, etc. The film catastrophically fell apart into fragments, into masterfully filmed, but unrelated scenes. The director called the finished version a "dead film".

To Dream and to Live

1975

The White Bird Marked with Black poster
6.0

A family struggles to survive in an area that was claimed as part of Rumania, Poland and Ukraine, all within a short span of time. When World War II comes, various family members choose different masters; some even choose to work for the Soviets. War, struggle, marriages, births, deaths--all these events punctuate the story of this large family.

The White Bird Marked with Black

1972

The White Bird Marked with Black poster
6.0

A family struggles to survive in an area that was claimed as part of Rumania, Poland and Ukraine, all within a short span of time. When World War II comes, various family members choose different masters; some even choose to work for the Soviets. War, struggle, marriages, births, deaths--all these events punctuate the story of this large family.

The White Bird Marked with Black

1972

The Legend of Princess Olga poster
6.7

The film is a poetic adaptation of a series of stories (oral and written) about Princess Olha of Kyivan Rus' (Ukraine-Rusʹ) at the start of the 11th century. Inspired by chronicles and folk legends this is a story of a common girl Olha who married Prince Ihor and became his successor on the throne after his murder and one of the most remarkable political leaders in early medieval European history. She converted to Christianity and brought her realm into Europe.

The Legend of Princess Olga

1984

The Legend of Princess Olga poster
6.7

The film is a poetic adaptation of a series of stories (oral and written) about Princess Olha of Kyivan Rus' (Ukraine-Rusʹ) at the start of the 11th century. Inspired by chronicles and folk legends this is a story of a common girl Olha who married Prince Ihor and became his successor on the throne after his murder and one of the most remarkable political leaders in early medieval European history. She converted to Christianity and brought her realm into Europe.

The Legend of Princess Olga

1984

Mirgorod and Its Inhabitants poster
7.2

Based on the works of Nikolai Gogol - 'The Old World Landowners', 'The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich', 'Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt'.

Mirgorod and Its Inhabitants

1983

The Last Bunker poster
NR

The film tells about the last stage of the struggle of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army against the NKVD squads. Events occurring after the end of World War II.

The Last Bunker

1991

Defying Everybody poster
5.2

The movie takes us through the trials and tribulations of Petar I Petrovic, the man who united Montenegro in the 18th century and led them in the Battle of Krusi against a huge Turkish army to return victorious and pave the first path towards economic development.

Defying Everybody

1973

Paradzhanov: Christ score in C major poster
NR

In 1989, Yurii Illienko came to Tbilisi to show Sergei Parajanov his film “Swan Lake. The Zone“, based on Parajanov's prison stories. The next day after the screening, Illienko shows the film to Soviet central party newspaper Pravda, which publishes the news of the resignation of Vladimir Shcherbytsky, who had ordered Parajanov's initial imprisonment. Illienko hands Parajanov the newspaper and turns on a household video camera. What follows is a friendly conversation between the two geniuses.

Paradzhanov: Christ score in C major

1994

Straw Bells poster
10.0

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

1987

Straw Bells poster
10.0

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

1987

Out of Boredom poster
5.1

An intimate drama set in a remote railway station that grows into a tragedy of the whole generation and epoch, based on a Gorki story.

Out of Boredom

1968