Potop, “The Deluge”, the second movie, way older, is the adaptation of the second book. The little story is kind of simple though, it opposes two characters, Jan Skrzetuski and Yuri Bohun, in war, the later being a cossack, and for the love of some girl. It depicts Khmelnytsky Uprising: a cossacks‘s rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth rule that, at some point led to the idea of Ukraine as autonomous state, which won’t really happen durably until 1917. Ogniem i mieczem, “With Fire and Sword”, the most recent movie, is the adaptation of the first book.
Familiar with Henryk Sienkiewicz? Ever watched Quo Vadis? No? Ever heard about a mess in Central/Eastern Europe about Russia, Ukraine and Crimea? Interested? Then Sienkiewicz’s Trilogy is worth a look, even if, or because, it’s about this area in 17th century and not nowadays.
