Metrograph

Set during and immediately after World War II in a Hutsul village in Bukovyna—straddling the border between the western Ukraine and Romania and claimed by both—Illienko’s magnum opus follows a family of traveling folk musicians led by a world-weary patriarch, his three sons divided in their wartime allegiances. (Ivan Mykolaichuk, who co-wrote the film and would later become a director in his own right, plays the fervent communist of the trio.) The Soviet and the Axis powers are vying for control, but for anyone reading between the lines, a more nuanced picture emerges, with political sympathies exploited and Ukrainian land usurped. The White Bird Marked with Black is a masterclass in dynamic camera movement, including bravura 360-degree tracking shots and a usage of telephoto lenses that recalls Illienko’s work as DP on Sergei Parajanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.

DCP courtesy of Dovzhenko Center

Introduction by Pylyp Illienko, Film Producer and son of Yuri Illienko on Saturday, November 15th