The story of one missing person Few Belarusians do not know the story of the mysterious disappearance of the Cross, commissioned by the Monk Efrosynya of Polotsk, a national treasure and one of the greatest Orthodox relics of the Eastern Slavs. Encrusted with gold plates and rare diamonds, it has been the object of close attention of enemies since its creation in 1161 by the Polotsk jeweler Lazar Bogsha. This is despite the fact that on the cross itself was written a warning: “Let never wear out of the monostery ... but whoever disobeys, let him be cursed, and his fate with Judah will be.” First, the Smolensk princes took him out of Polotsk, then he was in Moscow. True, Ivan IV the Terrible still feared the curse and returned the relic to the Polotians. And during the Great Patriotic War, the cross of Euphrosyne disappears again... without a trace.
The film is not just about this relic. Then, in 1941, many priceless cultural heritage of Belarusians disappeared without a trace. Some of them were returned, others are still looking. Among them is the Cross. There are many mysterious and incomprehensible things in this story today. Some claim that the relic was evacuated to the East (and it is still in the vaults of one of the many Russian museums), while others claim that a German special team managed to intercept the relic and bring it to Germany. There is even evidence that they saw the Ephrosyniev cross in one of the private collections in the West. The truth may no longer be known. Therefore, the story told in the picture is only one of the assumptions.
The film is divided into two time layers, the actions of which alternately unfold now and then in that hot summer of the 41st. And if the latter tells us about the desperate attempt to save the cart with valuables by the command of the Red Army, the abduction of it by a German group; today, the direct descendants of the heroes are trying to find a trace of lost values. The plot is built so that the viewer does not get bored and with each of the eight episodes of the series, interest is heated more and more. To this must be added the excellent performance of Daniil Strakhov (his appearance in the film was a pleasant surprise for me) and the German actor Marcus Kunze. The latter, by the way, played two roles at once - the German soldier Ralph Muller and his namesake-grandnephew. And in both cases, his performance remained at its height: modest, a little naive, purposeful and devoted to his dream of finding a relative - all this gave him the image of a romantic. A sharp detective story, a love line, the romance of the surrounding nature, the taste of exciting adventures - all this can be found in this film. Therefore, it is not surprising that the picture in a fairly short time gained popularity, and according to official data, Belarusfilm topped the top ten most profitable for the last five years, paying off its considerable budget by 2.5 times.
Rewards:
- In August 2011, at the XII International Television Film Forum “Together” in Yalta, the film “German” was awarded a special prize of the Mosfilm film concern.
At the VIII Republican Festival of Belarusian Films (Brest, Belarus 2012):
Award for Best Director
- Diploma for the best male role of the second plan - Sergey Zhuravlyu
- Diploma for the best work of a make-up artist - Grigory Khraputsky.
A copy of the cross of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk today can be seen by everyone - thanks to numerous drawings and photographs, as well as a detailed description of the original - the relic has become possible to restore. The real cross will ever return to its homeland and whether it still exists at all remains a mystery, the solution of which will be dealt with by our descendants.
By the way, the film, who is interested, is based on the novel of the same name by Yuri Kostin, and has a sequel - a new four-part series "The German" was released in February 2013. Those who are interested in the real history of the search for the missing cross can advise to read the book of the famous Polotsk historian Vladimir Orlov “Tayamnitsa Polackai History” (“Secrets of Polotsk history”) and his extensive article in the almanac “Adrajanna”.
8 out of 10