Prince Vladimir 2006

From childhood to adulthood, the film traces the arc of Vladimir of Novgorod as a central figure in a turbulent dawn of ancient Rus, where three pagan princes—Vladimir of Novgorod, Oleg of Drelinia, and Yaropolk—rule under the guidance of wise volkhvy priests. The land rests in peace until a power-hungry student of a volkhvy murders his master, and the act unleashes a curse that brands him with the name Krivzha (meaning “crooked”). This dark arrival marks the rise of a new kind of menace that seeks to upend the princes’ authority and redraw the fate of the realm.

As Krivzha ascends, he aligns with the Pecheneg khan Kurya to raid Slavic villages, a brutal scheme designed to weaken the princes and fracture any hopes of a united Rus. The priest’s influence over Vladimir grows, bending the ruler toward cruelty and creating a rift within the royal line. The young Vladimir is pulled between lineage, power, and the ever-present shadow of the conspiratorial forces arrayed against him.

Vladimir’s early actions include a tense and fatal gambit: he attempts to kill his own brother Yaropolk, accusing him of killing Oleg. This internal strife further complicates the path toward unity, highlighting how personal vendettas can become entangled with broader political games. The tension intensifies as the true danger—Krivzha’s scheming and Kurya’s invasions—threatens to tear the Rus apart from within.

As the drama unfolds, Vladimir grapples with guilt and responsibility. He regrets the murder of Yaropolk by his uncle Dobrynya, a revelation that shifts his understanding of the conspiracy at work and underscores the danger posed by the intertwined ambitions of priests, princes, and foreign raiders. The sense of betrayal deepens, yet the fraying unity of the Slavic tribes pushes Vladimir toward one overarching goal: to weld disparate peoples into a single, cohesive state.

In the final confrontation, Vladimir’s struggle culminates in a decisive turn of events. He overcomes the hidden forces that Krivzha and Kurya had marshaled, and he works to secure a united Slavic realm. The climactic victories—against Krivzha’s crooked schemes and Kurya’s marauding forces—signal not merely military success but the laying of the groundwork for a lasting, centralized power. The film closes on a note of cautious triumph, with Vladimir pursuing the arduous task of uniting the tribes into one realm and steering his people toward a more stable future.