The Arrows of Robin Hood (1975)

With a traditional archery contest, the winner wins a silver arrow with gold lace and gold feathers. Even Robin Hood, although unrecognizable, takes part in this competition. As more and ... See full summary »

Director:

Sergey Tarasov

Writers:

Kirill Rapoport (as K. Rapoport), Sergey Tarasov (as S. Tarasov)

Stars:

Regina Razuma, Boris Khmelnitskiy, Vija Artmane

Cast

Credited cast:
Regina Razuma	...	Mariya
Boris Khmelnitskiy	...	Robin Hood
Vija Artmane	...	Ket
Eduards Pavuls	...	otets Tuk
Algimantas Masiulis	...	Ser Gay
Yuri Kamornyj	...	Shut
Ints Burans	...	Sherif
Yuri Stringa	...	episkop Gerford
Romualds Ancans	...	Villi
Khariy Shveyts	...	malenkiy Dzhordzh
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nikolai Dupak	...	Melnik
Ivars Kalnins
Mirdza Martinsone	...	ledi Anna
Janis Plesums	...	Alan Edely (as Jan Plesuts)
Aivars Silins

Storyline

With a traditional archery contest, the winner wins a silver arrow with gold lace and gold feathers. Even Robin Hood, although unrecognizable, takes part in this competition. As more and more participants are losing and Robin Hood eventually wins the award, his masquerade reveals. For none of the participants is as handy with a bow and an arrow like Robin Hood. With the help of his coolness and his friends Robin Hood may escape the dangerous situation.

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Plot Keywords:

1200s | character name in title | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | History

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

4 October 1976 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

The Arrows of Robin Hood

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rigas Kinostudija

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (35mm)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Partially based on Mikhail Gerschenson's book "Robin Hood", written in Russian, which in turn was based on early ballads about Robin Hood. Specifically, the song that Robin and friar Tuck sing together is taken from Gerschenson's book.

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Soundtracks

Ballada o lyubvi
Written and Performed by Vladimir Vysotskiy

User Reviews

Vysotsky's songs make it worth watching

There are several good Robin Hood movies, almost everybody who knows cinema would agree that 1938 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' with Errol Flynn is one of the best thus far, or perhaps even 1983 'Robin Hood and the Sorcerer' and 1922 silent film are also worth mentioning. Here we are with mid 1970s Russian version, and in my opinion it is worth watching. Lots of things go against this film - well, how easy was to create an authentic atmosphere of the medieval England in the 1970s Soviet Union. Not very easy at all. Historical authenticity aside, the treatment of a character is quite unusual. This Robin is almost Byronesque or rather a Lermontov type. The plot is a version of a familiar story, so not too many surprises there. All in all, the film to me always looked a bit weak with few brighter spots (e.g. evil knight casting and performance), but the songs of Vysotsky, are good songs. At times they fit well, and at times they are dissonant with what's on the screen, but no matter, they definitely add a dimension to the movie itself. There is something in the scenes very akin to Taganka theatrical mood of the time.

The first cinema release did not contain the songs, there were simply cut off, subsequently everything was restored, so if you come across the butchered version, it's not worth looking at.

Where is the release with the subtitles, you might want to ask? Once again - who knows. Yet another case of country's voluntary cultural isolation. And from what I've observed, even in the most famous Russian or Soviet movies the quality of translation is unequivocally horrible, primitive, too approximate, certainly made by people not very well versed in both languages.