Love Nets

A Ukrainian-American-Slovak-Russian project would best describe the film, Blood Ties, which Oleh Harenchar, an American film director of Slovak descent, started shooting recently. It is a romantic story of an American who comes to Slovakia to search for his roots when he learns that he has been adopted and his biological mother lives in Slovakia. But he came too late as she had died under mysterious circumstances. His Ukrainian neighbor spills some light on what happened years before, relating to him the sad story of the love affair between his mother and a celebrated Slovak writer. Circumstances came between the star-crossed lovers. His mother went to the US, brought him into the world, but for some reasons had to return to Slovakia, leaving her son behind. Tracing down his blood ties, the hero gets entangled into love nets and the story begins anew.

The film stars Rudolf Martin, an American of German descent and a rising Hollywood star, as the main hero. His major appearances were in Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula (2000), Swordfish (2001), and Bedazzled (2000). A popular Russian actor, Anatoly Kuznetsov, stars as his Ukrainian neighbor. Fame came to him after his appearance as a Red Army soldier, Sukhov, in The White Sun of the Desert directed by Motyl. However, when casting for the film the director set his sights on our theatrical and film star Bohdan Stupka. But the actor was too involved in the making of Jerzy Hoffman’s new film to come down from Poland. Thus Oleh Harenchar had to find someone to replace Bohdan Sylvestrovych. He reviewed lots of candidacies, but none of the Ukrainian actors on offer suited him. When shown the photo of Anatoly Kuznetsov, Harenchar said: “He is the one I need.” This way a Russian actor has been selected to play a Ukrainian. As Kuznetsov admitted, it is not a major part, but an interesting one, for that matter. Speaking Ukrainian will not be a problem, as he comes from Zaporizhzhia. The film also stars Slovakia’s celebrity actress Mila Vasareva, Roman Luknar (A Path Over Danube, The Garden), Monika Hilmerova (The Springtime of Life, The Mutiny), and starlet Tania Pukhafova, dubbed by the critics “the stellar discovery of the modern Slovak filmmaking in recent years” (Bitter Happiness, The Devil Knows Why). According to project co-producer Mykola Kniazhytsky, general director of the Media House company, Blood Ties will be of interest to the Ukrainian audience not only because one of the heroes is a Ukrainian, but also because it touches on the issue of emigration, in part, to the US. The problem of losing one’s roots is common to many of our fellow countrymen whose kin settled overseas. The film is expected to be completed next summer. Currently, the film crew is working in Bratislava. Then they will relocate to San Francisco. Released in the fall, the film will be shown both in cinemas and on television.