Authors

Discussion

This paper analyzes the Soviet mystical thriller Savage Hunt of King Stakh (1980) and its use of memory as a lens to examine historical trauma while simultaneously addressing contemporary social concerns. Valery Rubinchik's adaptation of Vladimir Korotkevich's novel is set in late 19th-century Belarus. It follows ethnographer Andrei Beloretsky, who settles in the Bolotnye Yaliny estate, owned by Nadezhda Yanovskaya, the last of an ancient gentry family. In this film, memory shapes the historical narrative and defines its characters' identities. Beloretsky preserves historical memory by collecting folklore. Memory connects Yanovskaya to her noble lineage and King Stakh's curse inherited from the past. The memory of King Stakh's curse serves as the catalyst for the estate's peasants, igniting their rebellion against their oppressors. Rubinchik's incorporation of historical events functions as a metaphor, shedding light on the problems prevalent during the stagnation era in the late 1970s USSR. The political dimension of Savage Hunt of King Stakh was evident: foreign journalists, following the film's presentation in Toronto, noted its authoritarian and anti-Stalinist undertones. Rubinchik himself stated that the film conveys a prevailing sense of fear within society. In contrast to the analyses by Adam Lowenstein and Linnie Blake, who consider horror films as tools to alleviate public anxiety following national traumas, this paper asserts that Savage Hunt of King Stakh amplifies these anxieties, exploring the resonance between memory and contemporary societal concerns.