Romance of a Horsethief | |
---|---|
Directed by | Abraham Polonsky |
Written by | David Opatoshu |
Based on | novel by Joseph Opatoshu |
Produced by | Gene Gutowski |
Starring | Yul Brynner Eli Wallach |
Cinematography | Piero Portalupi |
Edited by | Kevin Connor |
Music by | Mort Shuman |
Production companies | Jadran Film International Film Company Prima Cinematografica |
Distributed by | Allied Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 101 minutes |
Countries | France Italy Yugoslavia |
Language | English |
Romance of a Horsethief (French : Le roman d'un voleur de chevaux; Italian : Il romanzo di un ladro di cavalli; Serbo-Croatian : Romansa konjokradice) is a 1971 French-Italian-Yugoslav adventure film directed by Abraham Polonsky. It is loosely based on the 1917 novel with the same name by Joseph Opatoshu. [1] [2]
In Polish Russia, Stoloff, a Cossack in exile has gained control over a Jewish village. The villagers live by horse-thievery and under the leadership of Kifke. Stoloff's regime is tolerated until he commandeers the village's horses for the Russian army. Naomi has been away in France and gotten ideas of a revolution and inspires the town to resist. This gets Naomi into deep trouble, from which only Kifke and his compatriot Zanvil can rescue her. Zanvil is highly motivated since he is in love with Naomi.
Filming began in July 1970 in Yugoslavia. [3] Polonsky called the film "a fairytale, pretending to affect an older style but in fact the contrary." [4]
The Los Angeles Times called the film "impressive... a rollicking folk tale." [5]
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Abraham Lincoln Polonsky was an American film director, screenwriter, essayist and novelist. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Body and Soul but in the early 1950s was blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios after refusing to testify at congressional hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the midst of the McCarthy era.
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