On November 8, Yaroslav Ladygin’s “field action” “Wild Field”, a film based on the legendary novel “Voroshilovgrad” by Sergei Zhadan, will be released.
The plot of the film “Wild Field”
The film’s script was based on the famous novel “Voroshilovgrad” by Sergei Zhadan. But the director of the film notes that the film should not be perceived as an exact adaptation of the novel. But rather, as one of the possible interpretations of this story.
According to the plot, the guy German is forced to return to his hometown in the Donbass. His older brother has disappeared. And now the hero has to protect the family business – an old gas station. And with her – childhood friends and love in the fight against those who are seizing the land piece by piece, turning it into corn fields and a railroad that leads nowhere.
Leading actors
The main roles in the film adaptation will be played by Oleg Moskalenko, Alexey Gorbunov and Ruslana Khazipova. The film also stars Vladimir Yamnenko, Georgy Povolotsky, Evgenia Muts, Igor Portyanko and others.
Sergei Zhadan himself appears in a cameo role.
The script was written by Natalya Vorozhbit.
Director of the film “Wild Field”
The director was Yaroslav Lodygin. Here’s what he said about the filming:
“We filmed in incredibly beautiful places, and I’m glad that our cameraman Sergei Mikhalchuk was able to convey on the screen a colorful and accurate image of Donbass, exactly the kind of Donbass and the East of Ukraine as Sergei Zhadan described it in the book, and the way I love it and as few people have seen him.”
Movie title: Wild Field
As Vladimir Yatsenko said, initially the film was planned to be called the original novel “Voroshilovgrad”. “The version of the name “Wild Field” appeared a long time ago, because it is a paraphrase of the story itself: “Wild Field” is the place, the outlaw territory shown in our film,” says Yatsenko. – We tested the name “Voroshilovgrad”. For most people who do not know about the existence of the novel, it evokes associations with “soviet” or films about the war (such as “Stalingrad”). These are completely different associations that have nothing to do with our film.”
The director of the film adds: “At some point there was a feeling that it was necessary to distinguish between the book and the film, and we found the name Wild Field, realizing that this is the most capacious characteristic of what you feel while being there,” said Lodygin. – After all, almost a third of Ukraine is a steppe zone, which was historically called the Wild Field, this is how this territory was called in Latin, this is how it was known in the Middle Ages, and we live with the same feeling of a wild field today. And the way these places look now, the spirit, the character, the reasons why everything is the way it is – exactly the same as it was in those days when this name first appeared. So we felt and realized that we have the right to say: “Yes, this is a Wild Field.”
Language of the film Wild Field
Most of the characters in the film will speak Surzhik. Director Yaroslav Lodygin decided to shoot a film in Surzhik. Let us remember that last year Arkady Nepitaluk’s film “Priputni” (2017) was released, where almost all the actors also spoke Surzhik.
Making the film Wild Field
The “Wild Field” project became the winner of the ninth competitive selection of film projects of the State Film Agency of Ukraine. He received support in the amount of 15.49 million hryvnia.
Principal photography of the film took place in the summer of 2017 in Starobelsk (Lugansk region). Also, some scenes were filmed in Kyiv.
“It was important for us to shoot in these places in order to feel the land and not lie in this story. But sometimes we filmed in places and under such circumstances, where, it seems, no one had ever been before,” said Vladimir Yatsenko.
For some time there was an idea to create a mini-series of four to eight episodes based on the novel. Its action would begin in 2014 in the basement of the SBU, where the investigator tried to find out what the heroes were doing during the occupation of the city.
Release of the film Wild Field
It was originally planned that the film would be released in wide Ukrainian release on October 11. But the premiere was subsequently postponed to November 8.
Before the capital’s premiere, the film will be shown in small towns in Eastern Ukraine. Among other things, the show will take place in Starobelsk, where the bulk of the filming took place.