"Chervona Ruta", 1971So, I've Been Obsessing Over This 1971 Ukrainian Musical So Much That I Decided

"Chervona Ruta", 1971 So, I've been obsessing over this 1971 Ukrainian musical so much that I decided to reanimate my tumbler account and create this little video extract with English subtitles. I would love to share this with the Internet mostly because I find this movie absolutely legendary, for multiple reasons. The film's name is Chervona Ruta ("The Red Rue") and it was inspired by one of the most famous Ukrainian song of the same name written by an iconic composer Volodymyr Ivasiuk. "Why is he iconic?", you might ask. Well, first of all, he made such a huge impact on Ukrainian music like no other composer ever did. His songs were inspired by popular Western music and Ukrainian ethnic motives, primarily by Hutsul culture. Together with an ensemble "Smerichka", and some other really cool composers of the time, he played a tremendous role in saving Ukrainian culture in the time of Soviet oppression. Moreover, he always composed in Ukrainian, which was very sassy for that moment in Ukrainian history, for a lack of a better word. He wasn't a political activist, like many other Ukrainian creators of the time, who were repressed for their worldview, yet he did a lot only using his own tool - music. Soviets knew that his impact is huge so, as it is widely stated today, he was murdered by them.

However, his death can only be a subject of much more professional investigation, not a post on tumbler. So, let's go back to "The Red Rue". The song itself was a huge success at the time and became a hit sung all over the Soviet Union. The lyrics, inspired by the legend of the red rue, a flower which brings love and happiness to one who finds it, is probably the most widely known text in the modern Ukraine. So the film was kind of a spin-off for this song, which is a masterpiece on its own. The plot of the film is fairly simple: a miner and musician Boris (played by Vasyl Zinkevich) from Donetsk (by the way, the city has been occupied by Russians since 2014) meets a singer Oksana (played by Sofia Rotaru) from the Western Ukraine on his way to the Carpathian Mountains. The couple fall in love with each other, but get departed after arriving to Yaremche, a famous town in the Carpathian Mountains which remains a popular tourist attraction to this day. The music, however... You guys, the music is perfect. I honestly believe that there are no fitting words to describe the beauty of the music in the film. Every song is an absolute treat to one's ears, very well written and wonderfully performed by lead actors and different ensembles of the time, including Smerichka, Karpaty and Rosynka. Even Ivasyuk gets a cameo in the movie. If you are in anyway interested in Ukrainian culture, art or music, I highly recommend watching this film, as it is available on the Youtube. There are no English subtitles, but I assure you, all of the songs are understandable whichever language you speak, if one listens to them with their heart. And don't mind the quality - the equipment that the crew possessed was far from perfect and the version you see on the Youtube is one of the few versions which survived, as most of the copies of the film were destroyed after Ivasyuk's death. Still, it's a wonder, but it's watchable and gives off this perfect retro vibe. Here's the link to the musical - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av3FZVui6fQ&t=598s

140 lat temu w Warszawskim "Słowie" ukazał się pierwszy fragment Trylogii Henryka Sienkiewicza.

Vasyl Zinkevich, Volodymyr Ivasyuk and Nazarii Yaremchuk, circa 1970

They look like a team from some animated series - the handsome one, the brainy one and the goofy one. I can't believe they still haven't received their own crazy tumbler fandom.

I'll be the first one to step onto that dangerous path😵‍💫

A documentary about architecture of Western Ukraine by Ukraїner (English Subtitles are available)

I love this project. It's a mixture of good visuals, educational materials and good music. An extremely nostalgic video!

Music and audiomaterials from the film:

Broadcast of 27.03.93 Radio "Ukraine" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SgRkE6ioRE

Mykhailo Tafiychuk playing different types of regional flutes (such as tylynka, dentsivka, floyara) in March, 2015 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA1ipIucoE8

"Atomic Waltz" performed by Leon Fraifeld and a jazzband "Medikus" in 70s - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObvA1QOuYpw

A folk song "Kolo moi chaty" ("Near my house") by Ukrainian Radio Choir and its lead vocalist Tetyana Korobka - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCYhZv8Lago

19 Ukrainian folk instruments by Maksym Berezhnyuk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzg5sthDA30

Vocal Ensemble "Rosynka" and Instrumental Ensemble "Rovesnyk" - "My idemo dali" ("We go on"), 1978 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hi5l0rB5k4

(THE GROOVIEST!!) Vodohrai - Zacharovane kolo ("an enchanted circle"), 1979 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCSRSx2WO5s

Here's a picture to draw your attention, but...

I think we need to talk.

I think the so-called "pride month" is the best moment to express some unpopular opinions, which, I'm afraid, might cause a lot of a hate toward myself and maybe even my account being flagged. But, since I am a big girl now, I'll survive that. There is just one thing that has been on my mind for years and I really feel the need to share it. And since it's my personal blog, I think I have the right to express my opinions here. So, a question:

 If you consider yourself to be gay, do you have to be the part of LGBTQ+ community? Is it obligatory? Does the fact that you like people of your own sex automatically make you a part of this community? 

Well, my unpopular opinion is that it does not. 

 I identified my sexuality quite early - I was about 11 or 12 at the time. I had noticed, that even though I am a girl, who would be traditionally attracted to males, I have been almost equally attracted to women. Moreover, I think I have always been more attracted to women than to men. And, maybe I'm lucky, but being born and raised in the 21st century, even if not in the most developed country and in quite a conservative family, I have never felt guilty of liking my own sex. I have never had problems with admitting it to myself or to others. I have never had an issue with people not accepting me for that. If I had had any unkind rumors concerning this fact about me, I didn't care. I have always had some sort of immunity to that. Thus, for me, the fact that I'm attracted both to males and to females was never a reason to be proud of.

Why should I be proud of being bisexual? Am I proud of my Ukrainian roots? Am I proud of my white skin or biological sex?

I am not, because I didn't get to choose it, I just felt the attraction and accepted it as a part of me. I didn't do anything. I can be proud of my skills, like digital painting, because I have been developing it for years. I can be proud of my victory over my depression and anxiety (btw, absolutely not connected to my bisexuality or acceptance of thereof), because I actually had to fight it in an uneven battle. I can be proud of my and my family’s path of reconnecting with the Polish culture after years of being disconnected from it, because it actually did require a lot of work on my side. I can be proud of some character traits which I developed in myself, by choice. But I cannot be proud of something that I just have. It's the same as to be proud of having naturally good fat distribution - well, it's not that I worked my a** off in a gym to get there, I just have this predisposition, that's it.

LGBTQ community has always seemed a weird thing to me. Maybe these are just my subjective sensations, but I have always felt as if it expects some particular behavior on my behalf. If you are a man, and you are gay, you need to speak in a high-pitched voice and say "slay" every ten sentences. If you are a gay woman, you have to possess some stereotypically manly features like short hair and stuff. I met plenty of people who would change their own personality and forget their roots as soon as they came out, because they felt like they have to be different if they are openly gay. With bisexuality, it's not as restrictive, but I totally feel like the community expects me to identify myself as, first and foremost, bisexual, and only secondly, as a human. I feel as if I should provide everyone with the information that I am not straight every time I introduce myself to others. As if this purple flag is my main attribute and I should carry it with myself though life with pride. 

But I don't want to. I don't want to be the part of community which has some expectations over me. I don't want to be the part of a community which pretends to be the most inclusive one, while being radically exclusive to some specific people for not keeping up with new, trendy social constructs. For me, LGBTQ+ community is like a new hypocritical religion. Like I have the same feeling of guilt and discomfort, when I hear about some new ideas promoted by the community, as I felt when I was actively attending the Catholic Church.

And by the way, about the religion, I think it's a wonderful parallel, because despite the fact that I wasn't given a choice and got baptized as a baby into an ideology which happened to make me feel uncomfortable, Catholicism, I still could escape it as soon as I realized its negative influence over me. Many people in my family stopped going to church when they saw that it has been politicized and when they realized that religion can serve not only as a tool for obtaining peace of mind, but also as a tool for manipulation, and they still saved their spiritual faith after quitting the community. Now, I cannot stop being bisexual (nor do I want to), but I believe that I can do the same with LGBTQ community - quit it, even if I still continue to be bisexual. And I believe, that I can feel the pride for the things I have actually accomplished just anytime of the year, it doesn't necessarily have to be something I just got as a child and didn't do anything to develop that quality. 

Either way, this is just my stream of consciousness, you do you, creative people of Tumblr, but I really needed to say this. Cheers

"Chervona Ruta", 1971