Interpretation of the Tiger Trappers Novel by Ivan Bahrianyi in the Ukrainian Cinematography of the 1990s and Musical Theatre of the 2020s
Authors: Mekh Nataliia 
Published: June 2024

Attention is paid in the article to the landmark event of modern Ukrainian culture – the book celebrating its anniversary in 2024 – Ivan Bahrianyi’s novel the Tiger Trappers and the rethinking, interpretation of this work in the modern Ukrainian artistic space, in particular in cinematographic and theatrical texts. This year, 80 years have passed since the world saw the adventure work with autobiographical elements, which resonated not only at home, but also abroad. And this is not surprising, because Tiger Trappers has been translated into many languages of the world and had a circulation of over a million copies. Ivan Bahrianyi has submitted to a wide audience a very Ukrainian in spirit and worldview action, which even today in the 21st century is able to interest young people with its truthfulness and insight, its thirst and desire for freedom. The film version of the Tiger Trappers novel, which has appeared in 1994 at the Ukrtelefilm studio is analysed in the investigation. A well-known figure of Ukrainian culture Rostyslav Synko is a director and screenwriter of the film. The film text is based on the original source, but there are also differences those testify not only to another time period, the other era in which the film was shot, but also to certain new accents, a new vision, a reinterpretation of Ivan Bahrianyi’s novel about the young aviator Hryhorii Mnohohrishnyi. According to the plan of the author of the film story has another name. He is called Andrii Chumak in the film. There are also the other details those differ in the novel and in the fictional strip of the same name. And this is quite natural, because it is about the author’s interpretation, reinterpretation of a well-known work. The film of the same name also draws the viewer’s attention to the two Ukraines of the main characters: to the distant, dreamed-of real Ukraine with Golden-topped Kyiv and to the Second Ukraine, which immigrants, exiles from their native land, have built for them in the Far East in the bloody 20th century. In our time, this motif acquires new shades, because again, already in the 21st century, there are Ukrainian immigrants, again there are people who are forced to seek refuge all over the world, escaping from the terrible Russian invasion. Will new immigrants be able to find their Second Ukraine? Will they be able to return to their homeland? Life will show... The interpretation of the novel in modern Ukrainian musical theater is considered. Last year the musical Tiger Trappers directed by Serhii Pavliuk has been released basing on the novel of the same name by Ivan Bahrianyi. This fact, without exaggeration, has become a landmark artistic event, which has success with the audience and favourable reviews of critics. It is emphasized in the article that when we see a finished cultural product of the Ukrainian artistic space, whether it is a film or a theatrical production, a musical, etc., based on a certain work of fiction, we realize that this is already an interpretation, a reinterpretation. So, we are already talking about the creation of a new cultural text – a film text, a theatrical text, a musical text, etc. The significance of modern theater and film art is understood. It is claimed that the mission of art today is exactly rehabilitation through art. An artistic product should give hope, show a happy version of the course of events. Faith in the victory of good over evil, glorification of love that does not pass away – all this should be present in modern theatrical, musical and film texts today. After all, there is a demand for such cultural products in the modern time slice of the 2020s.