Mazeppa, Folk Hero of the Ukraine

1919 DramaHistory 118 minutes Directed by Martin Berger

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About Mazeppa, Folk Hero of the Ukraine

Ivan Mazepa (Werner Krauss), a Cossack officer at the end of the seventeenth century, serves the Polish king Jan II Casimir (Aenderly Lebius). After a battle the king honors him. A count who believes the honor should have been his takes revenge.

Cast & crew

More about Mazeppa, Folk Hero of the Ukraine

Martin Berger directed and wrote the film. E. H. Zirkel produced for B.Z.-Film (Dr. Linsert) in Berlin. Herrmann Kricheldorff was the cameraman. Exteriors were shot in Grünwald. The negative was finished and censored in October 1918, six acts, 2,153 or 2,070 meters, listed as 118 or 113 minutes. Berlin police barred it to young audiences (no. 42512). A 1921 re-censorship, on June 9, kept the ban (no. 2596). The premiere waited until 1919, at the Marmorhaus in Berlin. English sources date that opening to July 1919.

Themes

  • A king's favor
  • A count's revenge
  • A Cossack at a Polish court
  • Ivan Mazepa
  • Jan II Casimir
  • Cossack
  • battle honor
  • Count Czerny
  • Grünwald

Background

The film was censored in Berlin in the last weeks of the German Empire and premiered at the Marmorhaus in July 1919, after the war and the fall of the monarchy.

Making

Berger shot the Polish-court scenes with Krauss as Mazepa and used the Grünwald locations for the exteriors, then sat on the finished negative from the October 1918 censorship until the Marmorhaus booking.

Look

Herrmann Kricheldorff photographed the production, including the exteriors at Grünwald.

Preservation

A print survives. Europeana has offered a stream, and a copy is posted on the Internet Archive. The youth ban from 1918 and 1921 did not keep the film from being preserved.

Notes

  • The German title is Mazeppa, der Volksheld der Ukraine.
  • Mi. Samoliows plays Count Czerny and Lulu Lànyi plays Countess Czerny. Eva Speyer plays Princess Bianca. Toni Zimmerer plays Prince Skrudzinski. Otto Mannstaedt plays Minister Krzywalow.
  • A second length on the censorship papers is 113 minutes, from the 2,070-meter cut.
  • Filmed in 1918, it did not open until the summer of 1919.
  • Europeana lists a stream of the film.

Scenes

  • After the battle, King Casimir honors Mazepa in front of the court.
  • The count who was passed over sets a revenge in motion.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (silent-mazeppa-der-volksheld-der-ukraine)