Kova the Blacksmith (Кузнец Кова, 1987) by Munavar Mansurhojaev

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Kova the Blacksmith
Kaveh the Blacksmith
Кузнец Кова
Kuznets Kova (ru)
Chàng thợ rèn Kāveh (vi)

Year 1987
Director(s) Mansurhojaev Munavar
Studio(s) Tajikfilm
Language(s) Russian
Genre(s) Folklore & myth (non-Rus./USSR)
Folklore & myth (Rus./USSR minorities)
Literature (non-Rus./USSR)
Literature (Rus./USSR minorities)
War & battles
Animation Type(s)  Cutout
Live-action
Mixed
Length 00:10:05
Wordiness 6
245 visitors

Subtitles:
Kuznets Kova.1987.en.1.24fps.1673955869.srt
Date: January 17 2023 11:44:29
Language: English
Quality: good
Upload notes:
Creator(s): Niffiwan

Kuznets Kova.1987.ru.1.24fps.1673955600.srt
Date: January 17 2023 11:40:00
Language: Russian
Quality: unknown
Upload notes:
Creator(s): Niffiwan

Kuznets Kova.1987.vi.1.24fps.1676070975.srt
Date: February 10 2023 23:16:15
Language: Vietnamese
Quality: unknown
Upload notes: 254 characters long (view)
Creator(s): Cynir


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Description:

A simple blacksmith rebels against the cruel king Zahhok. Adapted from the Persian epic poem "Sharnameh" by Ferdowsi (written in 977-1010).

Tajiks trace their heritage and language from old Persia, and the "Sharnameh" is as much a part of their literary and cultural heritage as it is in Iran. The names of the main characters here use the Tajik pronunciation (Kova and Zahhok instead of Kaveh and Zahhak). There was also a 1940/1941 Tajik-language opera of the same name, which may have had some influence on this short animated film.

Many of the details of the original story are left out, and the story has been pared down to what the director viewed as its essential elements. Although the ancient text is used as the backdrop, there seems to be a contemporary subtext as well, shaped by the political landscape of the late 1980s.

For those who wish to read the original text (a masterpiece of world literature), the story covered in the film appears on p. 150-170 in the 1920s English translation by the Warner brothers (a summary can be read here). The Russian translation partly used in the film can be read here (translated by S. Lipkin & V. Derzhavin).

Scanned as part of the RuTracker 35mm film scanning project. Until then, this film seems to have been unknown and did not appear in film databases (it still has no animator.ru page to this day). It is possible, even likely, that a Tajik-language version of the film was also made at the same time, but it does not seem to be presently available.

 

DISCUSSION



1.Cynir

This film was actually a children's version of The Blacksmith's Banner (کاوه آهنگر, Дирафши Ковиёнӣ, Деравш Кавиани). Most of the Šāhnāme characters and events were fictionalized in the period 977-1010, meaning at least four centuries after the Ērānšahr era. Ferdowsi's stories reflected the transition from barbarism to civilization, or the struggle for survival between savage peoples in the steppes of Central Asia, and it had little to do with modern Iran. We should also know that, during this period, all three of the most important continents on the planet were unstable politically, socially and in identity. Of course, in that context, the region that is today Central Asia was truly the epicenter of all turmoil, where people only acted with each other according to commercial interests and vice versa, which only meant war. For many centuries, this was almost the only place where there were huge armies numbering millions, followed by countless massacres : Thousands of heads were cut off, then stuffed with straw and paraded to frighten the public. Therefore, the struggle of the blacksmith Kāve (کاوه آهنگر, Kāve Āhangar, Коваи оҳангар) is the transformation from injustice to justice, or an idol-worshiping society to an age of worship of nature. The story of Kāve is unclear whether it predates or contemporaries Šāhnāme, but the name Zahāk (ضحّاک, Заҳҳок) somehow recalls king Hahav (אַחְאָב) in the Old Testament, which appeared almost a millennium before Šāhnāme.

An interesting fact is that the fictional blacksmith has been revered as the founder of the Tajik nation. An interesting fact is that the fictional blacksmith has been revered as the founder of the Tajik people, while he is less respected in Iran (modern Iranians worship Rostam). During the final uprising, Kāve used a square standard (درفش کاویانی, Drafš-e Kāvīān, "the standard of the kings") embroidered with a golden lotus. Lotus flowers are usually only white or light pink, while yellow flowers also exist but are extremely rare in reality. However, the golden lotus is one of the symbols of Zoroastrianism, what represents the image of the sun. As we know through Greek mythology, the sun symbolizes justice, faith and victory, or combined, fortune.

Thus, during the Soviet period, Tajikistan was the only autonomous republic that consistently featured Šāhnāme in cinema. That said, there were hidden rules for creating Tajikistan's identity, because before the XX-century, Tajiks were only a small and weak semi-nomadic people in Central Asia, even they could not create their own nation. Since 2006, Drafš-e Kāvīān has been restored as the presidential standard of Tajikistan. Perhaps the president of Tajikistan was also once a boy who loved this animated film ?


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