NARRATOR: In the dark days at the dawn of the 16th century,
the conquering hordes of the Turkish Sultan
spread terror throughout the civilized world.
The Ottoman Empire swept east across Asia Minor,
south across the Mediterranean,
north across the Crimea.
Triumphant, the Turkish Sultan turned west to the Ukraine.
Turkish spearheads threatened the frontiers of Poland.
The fate of Europe hung in the balance on the vast fertile plains
known as the Steppes.
Your Highness, the Turks have broken our lines.
Call out the reserves.
We have yet to hear from our allies.
The Cossacks.
The whole army's probably lying drunk in the mud.
- The Cossacks will be here. - We can't wait, Sire.
Zaporozhtzi.
( ALL YELLING )
(MAN SCREAMS)
( GUNSHOTS)
Cutthroats, animals. Devils with scalp locks.
But there are no such fighters in the world.
( ALL CHATTERING )
Prince Grigory will toast victory at the Royal Pavilion
with the Cossack Colonel.
Tell your Prince,
the hetman of the Zaporozhtzi only drinks with kings.
My Colonel,
have a drink for me with Prince Grigory.
And you will represent me at the Royal Pavilion,
Taras Bulba.
Follow me.
Never set foot under a Polish roof.
Not even a tent.
Colonel Manfred, we will speak here. It will spare us both embarrassment.
I give you a toast to our common triumph over the infidels.
I'll drink to that.
Gold.
Too bad we're fighting on the same side, huh?
You fight well, Cossack.
How are you known?
Armed guards behind my back.
( COSSACKS LAUGHING )
Your name?
Taras Bulba.
Colonel of the Oumansky Cossacks.
Well, Taras Bulba, Colonel of the Oumansky Cossacks,
His Majesty is pleased by the results of our alliance.
So pleased he has decided to do you the honor
of integrating all Cossack troops into the Polish-lmperial Army.
Do you see this scalp lock?
That means you're speaking to the Zaporozhtzi.
Do you know what Zaporozhtzi means?
The Cossack Brotherhood.
Free men.
We fought with you to rid this land of the Turks
because this is our land.
Now take your Polish honor back to Poland
and leave us alone.
Leave us alone, Pole.
Colonel Manfred, the Cossack is right. Honor has nothing to do with this.
We need the Ukraine as a buffer against the East
and we need your grain.
We are here and we intend to stay.
That is why His lmperial Majesty is dispersing the Cossack troops
before you can turn your horses against us.
That is why we held back our reserves till you had won the battle for us.
Zaporozhtzi!
Holy Father,
blessed archangel, what have we done?
What is your will?
I've led you to dishonor, defeat and death.
No.
Devil take you, Mykola.
You are our hetman.
You did not lead us to defeat.
We trusted the Poles.
That
was our mistake.
Before the moon changes,
I'm going to have a son.
He may already be born.
And I will kiss the Devil before my son
wears the Polish collar.
So,
start again,
burn our farms,
take to the forests,
live in the hills.
Kubenko in the south.
Tymoshevsky in the east.
The scalp lock is forbidden.
There's my pledge.
It may take years,
it may take a whole generation,
but the Cossack Brotherhood will rise again,
with fire and sword
and repay the Pole measure for measure.
And take
the Steppes back
for our own.
And may God help us.
Zaporozhtzi,
pray to your archangel.
NARRATOR: With the burning of their farms,
the Cossacks scattered across their beloved Steppes.
There, in the ancient hills,
Taras Bulba 's vision was to take root and grow like the sons he bore,
steeled from birth for the day when the Cossack Brotherhood
would drive the Polish conquerors from their homeland
and take back the Steppes for their own.
(BABY CCYING )
( CCYING )
There, Andrei,
there's your lesson.
Armor plate can stop a saber.
If you want to kill a man in armor, what you need is this.
(BABY CCYING )
Why don't Cossacks wear armor?
This is our armor, boy.
Faith.
And a good saber arm.
TARAS: Ostap, watch your brother.
He rides like a Cossack, fights like a Cossack.
And soon, we'll teach him to drink like a Cossack.
MEN: Taras Zaporozhtzi!
(MEN SINGING )
(SINGING ) When you see a Cossack with him is a Cossack
We the brotherhood we are one
MEN: Hi, Zaporozhtzi!
Hi, Zaporozhtzi!
We the brotherhood we are one Hey!
TARAS: Turn to your left then turn to your right
And faces shine brighter than the sun
MEN: Hi, Zaporozhtzi!
Hi, Zaporozhtzi!
Faces shine brighter than the sun Hey!
TARAS: When you say Cossack you're saying brother
Cossack and brother mean the same
MEN: Hi, Zaporozhtzi!
Hi, Zaporozhtzi!
Cossack and brother mean the same! Hey!
We are the Cossacks We are the Cossacks
Men that no one on earth can tame
MEN: Hi, Zaporozhtzi!
Hi, Zaporozhtzi!
Men that no one on earth can tame
Taras?
In the holy name, are you mad?
- A Cossack scalp lock? - Don't chatter, magpie.
You make the barber nervous.
You'll be hanged on sight.
The more you talk, the more you show your ignorance.
The scalp lock is the latest fashion imported from the court at Warsaw,
His Polish Majesty has forgiven us our sins.
Royal pardon to all Cossacks.
( GRUNTS)
Watch what you're doing.
Shave me when you're through with papa. I want a scalp lock.
How's that?
A scalp lock!
You'll wear a scalp lock when you've earned it, boy.
In battle.
You don't need a scalp lock to study Latin.
Latin?
The Poles have opened the Kiev Academy to all Cossacks,
and the sons of Taras Bulba will be the first ones there.
Right, Father Mikhail?
The devil we are!
The King is spitting in our eye.
He's saying the Cossacks aren't worth worrying about anymore.
What the devil are you doing up there?
I am repairing the weathercock
so that you can tell which way the wind blows.
Papa, what can we learn from the Poles?
Father Mikhail has taught us everything that a Cossack should know.
- A Cossack? - Yes.
What do you know?
Pots and pans.
Petticoats and apron strings. That's what you know.
A Cossack should be fighting Poles, that's what I know.
Send me to Kiev with a saber, I'll teach them what I know.
But I won't go to learn to be a Pole.
Uh-huh.
You think you are ready to fight me, boy?
- Anytime you say, Papa. - Uh-huh.
(LAUGHING )
All right, Papa.
Come on.
So we go,
the sons of Taras Bulba, to learn to be Poles.
I don't know why we go, Papa, but I follow your orders
until the day comes that I can throw you in the well.
And
that day will come.
So...
You don't know why you're going.
So you say you want to fight the Poles.
When you come home,
when you've learned everything the Poles know
and all there is to know about the Poles,
then you'll be ready to fight them,
and not before.
And that day will come.
That day will come.
(URGING OXEN)
Pigs, lepers and Cossacks around the back.
(EX CLAIMING )
(STUDENTS LAUGHING )
(EX CLAIMING )
( GROANS)
Follow me.
Andrei Bulba.
Ostap Bulba.
We have opened our schools to you
in the hope that we may yet raise a generation of civilized Cossacks,
worthy to be counted among the subjects of the Polish crown.
Let it be clear from the start,
we will not tolerate the barbaric behavior to which you are accustomed.
You will remove your tunics and prostrate yourselves.
Brother Bartholomew.
( CHORAL SINGING )
I thought we came here to study.
Papa said we should learn everything there is to know about the Poles.
But she's the governor's daughter.
She'd spit on a Cossack.
Amo,
amas,
amat.
I love,
thou lovest,
he loves.
STUDENTS: (SINGING ) Rise ye shepherds
on this winter's night
In the skies
one wondrous star shines bright
Angel voices bid ye rise
Oh come ye all where Jesus lies
Oh come and greet your Lord!
Come, ye shepherds
Ye have traveled far
Ye have been guided
By his holy star
Gently, gently dawn is creeping
In the manger he is sleeping
Come and greet your Lord
Rise, ye shepherds
on this winter's night
In the skies one wondrous star shines bright
Angel voices bid ye rise Oh come ye all where Jesus lies
Oh come and greet your Lord
Oh, Natalia,
your brother and I would like to share a toast with you.
DRIVER: Whoa, there!
(WOMEN GIGGLING )
(LAUGHING )
Do you think it's funny to run people down?
I'm sorry.
You look so funny when you get angry.
It's hard to look angry with mud on your face.
(BELL TOLLING )
That's the Academy bell.
You will be late.
They will whip you.
( CHUCKLES SHYLY)
- I'll return this. - Oh, it doesn't matter.
Tomorrow.
No.
Please.
I won't be here tomorrow.
But I can easily get another one,
at the Thieves' Market.
Joseph.
Andrei...
Andrei, come on.
Come on, Andrei, the gates are closed.
- The Thieves' Market. - What did you say?
The gates are closed.
Veni.
Vidi.
Vici.
I came.
I saw.
I conquered.
Make yourselves presentable. Then report to the Abbot.
Ostap Bulba, you're dismissed. Go to your studies.
I'm sure that'll be more painful for you than any flogging.
Do you know why I have decided to punish you and not your brother?
It's the Machiavellian theory of statesmanship you taught us.
Divide your enemy and conquer.
Ostap was born a Cossack, he will die a Cossack.
But you distress me, Andrei.
You have a fine mind.
It distresses you to find a Cossack can think?
On the contrary, you gave me hope for the Cossack kind.
To raise yourself out of ignorance and barbarism.
There's a real challenge for a restless spirit.
Must you waste yourself hating all Poles?
Not all Poles.
It's not so much that I hate Poles, sir.
I love the Steppes.
But the Steppes are Poland.
The past is dead.
The wheel of history moves forward and no one can turn it back single-handed.
Not even you, Andrei Bulba.
Well, it's a challenge for a restless spirit.
Remove your cassock and prostrate yourself.
Brother Bartholomew.
( ALL CHATTERING )
(SINGING ) They tell of a star
That shines just by day
Just by day
The wishing star
Can only be seen
When two lovers kiss
So they say
You make a wish
On a summer night
And dream till dawn
When the sun is bright
Then kiss your love
And look up above
If you see a star in the blue
The wishing star
Is shining for you
And you know your wish will come true
Tomorrow?
Where?
After vespers. At the cathedral.
- (WHISPERING ) Are you out of your mind? - Yes.
And she loves me.
And as soon as we can get out of this monk's trap
she's going to be my wife.
Do you know what Papa would do to her?
He'll throw her to the pigs for slop.
Andrei, she's a Pole. Don't let her make a fool of you.
This Cossack dishonored my sister.
We cannot allow him to disgrace any more Polish families.
Gentlemen, I'll need your assistance.
I'm not going to kill you, Cossack,
but I'm going to make sure
you never molest another Polish woman as long as you live.
Stand him up.
MAN: Stop the Cossacks!
- Brother Bartholomew! - Brother Bartholomew!
STUDENTS: Open the door!
Open the door!
They killed Captain Alex.
- The stables. We'll need horses. - I'll find Natalia. Saddle three.
Thank you, Lieutenant, for coming here.
It was considerate of you.
Please wait.
My son is dead.
Your brother killed by your Cossack lover.
Tell your servant to pack your belongings.
I'll arrange for an escort to take you out of the city.
You cannot stay here after tonight. You'll be taken to Dubno.
There you will serve as maid in waiting
until you have been trained in the responsibilities of your birth.
Alert the patrol and apprehend my daughter as well.
(WHISPERING ) Natalia!
Go back!
Go back, Andrei! Go back!
Go back! Go back!
Go back!
(DISTANT BARKING )
SHILO: Strangers.
Strangers.
Look at the way they ride.
(LAUGHING HEARTILY)
Turn around, son. Turn around.
Don't move, son. Don't move. Let's take a look at you.
What is this, a skirt?
My sons in skirts.
Let's see if you can run to the well without tripping over your dress.
Papa, the only reason I'd run to the well is to throw you in.
How do you ride?
Sidesaddle?
Papa, please don't make fun of us.
And why not?
Because if you do, Papa, I'll hit you.
Uh-huh.
You want to fight?
Anytime you say, Papa.
- Fists? - What else?
So you think you're tough enough to push the old cock off the roost.
(EX CLAIMS)
(BOTH GRUNTING )
Andrei, Taras.
Look at them. Two years they haven't seen each other.
What do they do? Try to kill each other.
Well, you've learned to fight a little.
I'll say that for you.
What about you?
(BOTH LAUGHING )
Andrei, you're hurt.
Come.
Sit.
So,
- who stuck you? - A Pole.
Did you kill him?
My little brother did.
What did you fight about?
- A woman. - A woman!
How do you like that?
Did you see the way he fought me? With a sword hole in his shoulder.
MEN: (SINGING ) If we drink we will die
And if we don't drink we will die
So we might as well say what the hell And let our glasses clink!
Whatever your name you'll be dying just the same
So as long as we are going to die It is better if we drink
Whatever your name is...
To Andrei and Ostap,
sons of Taras.
What's the Latin for vodka?
- The Romans didn't drink vodka. - That's why the Roman Empire fell.
Scholars.
(SINGING ) Some men are lovers
They work under covers
And from lady's bed to lady's bed they leap
( ALL LAUGHING )
But I want to drink to the man nobody drinks to
The fellow who gets into bed
and goes to sleep
( ALL LAUGHING )
ALL: (SINGING ) If we drink we will die
And if we don't drink we will die
So we might as well say what the hell And let our glasses clink
TARAS: Go back.
Make room.
Andrei!
Ostap!
Take these horses with your father's blessing.
Kneel.
I am the oldest living Cossack,
but I refuse to die sitting on an oven.
Now, you two start some fighting
and give an old Cossack a chance to die the way he should.
Welcome to the Cossack Brotherhood.
God ride with you.
( ALL CHEERING )
( GUNSHOTS)
We're looking for Taras Bulba,
Colonel of the Oumansky Cossacks.
Filipenko! Korzh!
You sons of the devil.
- Shilo. - Filipenko.
What more can a man want? My sons and my friends.
My old partners and my future partners in battle.
So these are your young pups, eh?
Not bad, not bad.
Taras, you've done a good job, eh?
(FILIPENKO LAUGHS)
Nice pair, but too small for me. I'd have to carry this horse on my back.
- I'd like to see that. - With you on his back.
( ALL LAUGHING )
MAN: Let's go.
( ALL CHEERING )
- Come on. - Come on, Korzh.
Come on.
( ALL SHOUTING ENCOURAGINGLY)
Who else can carry a horse on their back all the night?
Who else but an idiot would want to?
( ALL LAUGHING )
( ALL CHEERING )
The time is at hand
when Cossacks will have something better to do
than carry horses around the house.
Lift your scalp locks out of the soup, Cossacks.
Pull your sabers out of the bread.
The hetman has raised the golden standard of the archangel.
The Zaporozhtzi are called to arms.
We are marching to war!
( ALL CHEERING )
( GLASSES SMASHING )
Women, more glasses. More vodka.
May God ride with the Zaporozhtzi!
( ALL CHEERING )
Hey! When do we march?
Every hairy-tongued Cossack with powder in his flask
will assemble at Chigirin
on the road to Dubno by the first day of Holy Easter Week.
( ALL CHEERING )
You can whet your blade, Stepan Kanevsky,
and prepare to die like a Cossack should.
( ALL CHEERING )
Who... Who... Who are we fighting? Or doesn't it matter?
Not a devil of a lot.
( ALL LAUGHING )
Who is there to fight except the Poles?
MEN: Right. The Poles.
FILIPENKO: Not this time.
The King of Poland
wants an army of 10,000 Cossacks under the Cossack standard,
led by Cossack officers, at full pay and booty,
to march to the Baltic wars.
And after the war?
We bury our dead, clean our sabers, count our booty, and get drunk.
What the devil is he talking about?
You don't argue with an old pirate like Filipenko.
This
we will settle with our hetman, Mykola.
( ALL SHOUTING IN AGREEMENT)
Why must you always be so particular about whose booty you take?
Because the Cossacks fought for the Poles once before,
or have you forgotten?
And do you remember, puppy?
You weren't even littered yet.
I'd rather be pulling the Turk's nose if I had my choice.
The plunder is richer and I like the smell of harem girls.
But they say these Baltic princes have slop pots of gold, too,
and their women have hips like Percherons.
(MEN LAUGHING )
And what's going to be left of the Steppes when we get back?
( GLASS SMASHING )
Questions! Questions!
Is that what the Poles taught you?
I'll tell you what the Poles taught me.
That a Cossack is an ignorant barbarian good enough to kiss a Pole's foot
or fight a Pole's war,
but not good enough to walk Polish streets.
Or raise his eyes to a Polish woman.
Or rule his own land.
A Cossack does not question the word of a hetman.
Will you fight or not? That is the only question.
Not for the Poles.
(MEN SHOUTING IN AGREEMENT)
Devil's blood, Taras, it looks like you've raised a coward for a son.
No man on earth can say a Cossack is a coward.
That can only be proven by the will of God.
Tell him you didn't mean it.
It's only a word. You can't die over a word.
Taras, stop them.
There are words men must die for.
We will ride to the gorge at dawn.
The starting mark will be of your choice.
Take your positions.
Let the will of God be done.
(KORZH URGES HORSE)
- His shoulder, Papa. - Return to your place, Cossack.
Your arm, boy.
Let the will of God be done.
(URGES HORSE)
(HORSE NEIGHING )
Burn this in your memory.
The man who died was a great Cossack,
and never forget it.
Was I wrong?
The hetman has called us to the standard.
Now,
tomorrow you raise your companies and meet on the march to Chigirin.
Tonight, ride to the village
and drink Korzh's soul to hell.
(PEOPLE LAUGHING )
Flaming flatbread, Cossacks.
- Was I wrong? - You were both wrong.
And you were both right.
Now, we ride to join Mykola on the road to Dubno
and I swear it will all be settled.
( ALL CHEERING )
( GRUNTING )
( GRUNTS)
( ALL CHEERING )
Come on, Andrei.
(WOMAN SCREAMS)
( ALL CHEERING )
( GIGGLING )
Tonight, we sleep under the stars.
We'll be making our bed on the ground for a long while to come.
Women, take them and forget them.
A Cossack can't let a woman worry him.
Right, brother Andrei?
Right, brother Ostap.
Till you find your woman.
Then you take her.
You never forget her.
You try.
You fight, you get drunk.
You tell yourself you're a Cossack. You tell yourself that Papa's right.
But you never forget her.
You never forget her.
All right, let's not waste time, bless your sons.
Bless you, my sons. May God's Mother keep you.
Send some little word if you can.
May they always fight bravely, and if not, perish. So, we go.
Zaporozhtzi!
ALL: Zaporozhtzi!
Zaporozhtzi!
ALL: Zaporozhtzi!
Zaporozhtzi!
- Zaporozhtzi! - Zaporozhtzi!
ALL: Zaporozhtzi!
Zaporozhtzi!
ALL: Zaporozhtzi!
Zaporozhtzi!
Welcome, Taras.
- Greetings, Mykola. - So, we ride together again,
to meet Prince Grigory at Dubno.
When I ride to Dubno,
I'm riding to fight the Poles,
and anyone who stands with them.
Would you ride against the Zaporozhtzi, Taras Bulba?
Let the Zaporozhtzi speak for themselves.
Colonels, form your regiments.
You heard the voice of the Zaporozhtzi, Taras Bulba.
Ride and you ride to your death.
Let him hear your voice.
(URGES HORSE)
You swore to wear a patch over one eye until the Steppes were free.
Cover both eyes, Tymoshevsky, so you cannot see yourself.
Can we fight the whole Polish Empire?
- Answer him with your guns. - Filipenko?
I'll have to shoot you, Taras.
We are sworn by our holy faith, Taras Bulba.
Would you destroy that?
There's only one way to keep faith with a Pole.
Put your faith in your sword, and the sword in the Pole.
Look to the heavens, Cossacks.
The sun stands at the equinox.
The Holy Easter dawns.
Let the day of the Resurrection of our Lord
be the day of the Resurrection of our land.
The Poles have put a sword in our hands.
Turn it on them.
Surrender the standard, Mykola.
MAN: Long life to the Zaporozhtzi!
Death to the Poles!
( ALL CHEERING )
Cossacks.
I signed this covenant,
by the holy faith, in the name of our brotherhood.
While I live, you are bound by that oath.
When you march,
you have to march forward over the flesh and bones
of lvan Mykola.
Stand aside, Mykola.
(TRUMPETS BLARING )
CROWD: Long live Poland!
( CROWD CHEERING )
( CHORAL SINGING )
(PEOPLE CHEERING )
I count only three regiments.
Three regiments.
To start.
(MEN YELLING )
You taught us, Pole.
Back, Zaporozhtzi, back from the wall!
Back, sulfur and oil.
( ALL JEERING )
So,
you won't fight?
Then starve.
When you're eating cockroaches, then you will come out.
And we will be here.
Do you hear me, Poles?
We will be waiting.
( ALL YELLING )
Are we going to fight or weasel in the bushes, sucking eggs?
Why the devil fall back? Let's go after them and storm the walls.
No.
Here we are. And here we stay,
until Dubno is a Cossack city.
( ALL CHEERING )
( ALL CHATTERING )
He's strong.
He will live, God willing.
First battle. You fought well.
With your eyes open.
He fought well, too.
Too well.
So...
How is your strength?
I think you should find out for yourself, Papa.
Uh-huh.
You're sure you're ready, Cossack?
Your stomach looks a little soft.
Soft?
Not as soft as I thought.
You're right, Papa, too soft.
Not ready.
( ANDREl LAUGHING )
(EX CLAIMING )
Big horse.
(MEN LAUGHING )
A lake, a lake is as good as a well, Papa.
( GRUNTING )
( ALL LAUGHING )
So...
(BELL TOLLING )
MAN: Listen.
The death bell.
Do you hear that?
The death bell.
There's plague in the city.
They're burning their dead.
Hold your fire.
Wait till they're closer.
Fire.
(RATTLING )
( GROANING )
(DOG BARKING )
(STIFLED GROAN)
A Cossack.
There's a Cossack in the city!
There's a Cossack in the city.
Raise the alarm!
Alert the watch!
A Cossack in the city.
Call out the guards.
There's a Cossack in the city.
A Cossack in the city!
(SHRIEKS)
(SQUEAKING )
- Natalia. - Andrei.
- We'll get out of this city. - Yes.
(DOOR OPENS)
Stop.
The plague.
This part of the city has been condemned.
Let me go there. Please.
NATALIA: They will open the east gate to bury the dead outside of the city.
No.
MAN: Bring out the dead.
Bring out the dead.
- The Cossack! - GUARD 1: Take him.
GUARD 2: A Polish woman! GUARD 3: The Lady Natalia.
Take them alive!
(NATALIA GROANING )
ANDREl: She had nothing to do with it. Let her go.
- She helped you. - Let her alone.
Why did you come here? To conquer Dubno single-handed?
- Let her alone! - Or to spy?
Let her alone!
Don't tell me the son of Taras Bulba came into the city to rescue a Polish woman.
Let her alone.
(BELL TOLLING )
Aliosha!
You can't have that, you'll jangle like an Arab dancing girl.
What are you doing?
We're wrapping the horses' hooves,
padding the wheels with sheepskin,
and we're tying the axles of the wagons so the Poles won't hear us when we leave.
Why?
Listen to that iron bell, Taras.
Look at the smoke.
You can smell the stench of the Black Death even here.
Look at the sky, hetman.
The dawn is rising over Mecca this very moment.
The Sultan is getting ready to sail.
Dawn
is rising over the Steppes, too.
How many good men have died
to keep the Steppes free,
and the Cossack Brotherhood alive?
But there is also another kind of brotherhood.
The brotherhood of wild beasts,
who will desert their own kind.
I will shovel manure, Taras,
but I will not eat it.
We followed you here to fight the Poles,
not to wait like carrion crows over a rotting carcass.
I'm leaving by nightfall tonight with any Cossack who will follow me.
Will you turn traitor, Filipenko?
Will you give the order to shoot me down, Taras?
- I will shoot you myself. - STEPAN: Now you listen to me.
You talk about wild animals, Taras,
but if we fall killing each other
right under the enemy's nose,
that is like wild animals.
Is that what brotherhood means?
So...
The old man is right.
It is for each Cossack to search his soul
and choose the way he will go.
So, they're going.
We stay.
Someday,
in years to come,
when the Steppes are free,
minstrels will sing of this.
How a prince of the Poles surrendered
to a meager three regiments of Cossacks.
May God help us.
ALL: May God help us.
Where is he?
You heard him during the fever. It's that Polish woman.
He must have gone into the city to find her.
- You're mad, boy. - He loves her.
She's been in his blood since the first day at Kiev.
No, not Andrei.
In fever,
men dream of women.
But a Cossack could not love a Pole, no.
( CROWD JEERING )
MAN: Death to her!
Death to her!
Death to the Cossack harlot!
Expose her shame!
Let her be purged!
Let her be purged in the fire of our wrath!
- It is difficult to stop a hungry mob. - I'll get food.
That is easily said, Cossack.
Give me a company of men. I'll get you the oxen.
Why should I trust the lives of Poles to a Cossack?
Because you're desperate. And I know a way through the stockade.
You ask me to accept your word? The handclasp of a Cossack?
I extended my hand to a Cossack once.
It was a Cossack's saber, but very much like this.
Come here, Cossack.
Come here.
MAN 1: Reduce her to ashes!
MAN 2: Burn the witch!
Extend your arm, Cossack.
We take our hands too much for granted.
My first concern was for my sword arm,
but I quickly learned to use a sword with my left hand.
(JEERING STOPS)
(PRIEST RECITING PRAYER)
MAN: Set the torch!
She's your hostage. I'll get food.
You ask me to believe that the son of Taras Bulba
would betray the Cossack Brotherhood, his country, his father,
for the sake of a woman?
Could father and son be so unlike?
Not so unlike.
Both would be willing to die for the thing they love.
Give me 60 men to divert the Cossacks. I'll stampede the oxen.
Your reserves can drive them into the city.
The power of love is a constant source of amazement.
If the military could control it, we would conquer the world.
( GROANING )
Hear me!
The Cossack will bring food to the city.
Release the woman.
ALL: No!
- MAN: Burn the traitor. - Oh, Andrei.
Burn the witch!
I love you, Andrei. I will always love you.
You know that. I love you.
But I can't let you fight against your own people.
I can't do it. Please don't.
- I'm just getting food for the city. - The Cossacks will fight.
You're a Cossack, Andrei.
I'm a man before I'm a Cossack.
- I'm a Pole. - You're a woman.
Don't let them use me, please, don't let them use me.
You're the woman that I love.
Don't let them use me to turn you against your own kind.
Natalia, you are my kind.
You are my country.
You are my love.
Cossack!
His Royal Highness is waiting for you.
No, Andrei, no. Don't do it, please.
Don't do it. No, please, it's not too late.
Please, Andrei.
Andrei, please.
Andrei.
There's sulfur and saltpeter in the air, so strong I could almost taste it.
They're filling their powder flasks.
They're coming out, Shilo, they're coming out.
- And we've less than half an army. - They're coming out, pass the word.
They're coming out, pass the word.
MAN: They're going for the oxen.
- Zaporozhtzi! - ALL: Zaporozhtzi!
Death to the Poles!
Zaporozhtzi!
Alert the cannoneer. Prepare bombardment.
Fire!
(SCREAMS)
Where's their strength? Where's the Cossacks' strength?
They're hard-pressed to give battle to a handful of volunteers.
We won't send out our forces to round up the oxen.
We'll slaughter the Cossack Brotherhood once and for all.
Call out the reserves, we're going to attack.
Damn his soul to hell.
Traitor. After him.
After him. After him.
(SHOUTS)
Get off your horse.
Take off that Polish helmet.
My son.
Why?
I did what I had to do.
From the day I plunged you in the river to give you life,
I loved you as I loved the Steppes.
You were my pride.
I gave you life.
It is on me to take it away from you.
MAN: The whole army is coming out!
- They're attacking in full force. - Sound the retreat.
- Has your son made a coward of you? - Sound the retreat!
(WAR DRUMS BEATING )
- Zaporozhtzi! - Zaporozhtzi!
TARAS: Ride, Filipenko!
Filipenko!
Ride!
- Zaporozhtzi! - ALL: Zaporozhtzi!
( ALL YELLING )
(SHOUTS)
(MEN SCREAMING )
(YELLS)
(MEN SCREAMING )
OSTAP: We will take him home.
- To be buried on Cossack soil. - This is Cossack soil now.
Let Andrei be buried here.
In peace.
Now Dubno is a Cossack city.
We will not ravage or plunder.
There will be no more killing.
We will take this city in peace,
burn out the plague,
open the supply wagons.
We will feed all the people
of our city.