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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Save your money!,
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Ukraine: Ancient Crossroads, Modern Dreams [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Save your money. This video taught me nothing about the Ukraine, its countryside, its people, or its culture.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Should be in libraries, public and personal, worldwide--and, also as part of the curriculum in Ukrainian instruction,
By Yaroslava Benko "Mandrivnyk" (Arlington Heights, IL - USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Ukraine: Ancient Crossroads, Modern Dreams [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Ukraine (Ancient Crossroads, Modern Dreams) is a must-see video! Not only is it recommended by the Ohio State University Center for Slavic and East European Studies, but the university also offers a free loan (call 614-292-8770, or write to Keisel.1@osu.edu). If funds or space are scarce, then, by all means do get it to view through Interlibrary Loan from your local library if it doesn't already own a copy.
Produced in cooperation with Scientific Research Institute for History and Theory of Architecture and City Planning and Topoz Inform, it is a truly professional production. Kudos and congratulations to Video Visits (International Video Network) for this fine addition to its European Collection! Extremely informative, crisp colors, and depth of perception in the narration are only a few of the reasons why you'll want to see/own this video. An ongoing narration not only amplifies the video coverage, but also very astutely informs the viewers that under Soviet rule, this would have been illegal. When you watch this film, you'll get the blanks filled in nicely. Some of the cities visited include: Kyiv; Chernihiv (long known for its arts and crafts, a visit is made to an embroidery factory and to a bandura factory, where a custom-made bandura, the national instrument of Ukraine--is made); Dnipropetrovsk (we're told that it was really just another way to control the people); Khortysia Island (a movie segment shows the Zaporizhzhian Kozaks in yesteryear); Odesa; Crimea (Yalta and surrounding areas); Lviv (a bonus is seeing kids sledding down a hill on milk crates; and a pysanka artist is shown writing her unconventional pysanky, while explaining the technique. She even shows a pysanka, which was inspired by a poet who was imprisoned at age 22.) In one segment, the narrator explains that "Kozaks did more than fight and dance, they also financed the building of many churches...the Kozaks brought many fine churches and other developments to the region, but, perhaps, their most important achievement was holding off the bondage of serfdom..." I must differ with the one-star review that this video has received to-date. My outlook is that if you learn only one thing from an experience or situation, then you've not wasted your time, but have enriched yourself. My personal collection of Ukrainian videos and DVDs exceeds eighty--and this one is far from the bottom of the shelf--it sits proudly on the first shelf when not in use in the vhs player. Regarding the one-star review of A Customer, and, specifically the statement that this video didn't teach the person anything about Ukraine, the reference of A Customer to `the Ukraine' should be edited to read `Ukraine.' Throughout the video, reference is correctly made to `Ukraine'--surely, anybody watching this video would have picked up on the correct terminology after 55 minutes of viewing--and, I find it difficult to believe that 21 other people watched that same video, and didn't learn at least one other fact about Ukraine that they didn't know previously. I've had people watch my home movies of my trips to Ukraine, and even people who've been there many more times than I have, have assured me that they learned at least one new thing. An eloquent explanation appeared in Arnold Berke's article `Ukrainian Dawn,' Historic Preservation, March/April, 1993, pp. 31-32, it's very worthwhile reading! That some people still don't realize that Ukraine's name is only one word `Ukraine' rather than `the Ukraine,' is not that surprising, considering that each time the erroneous version `the Ukraine' is heard or read, it only reinforces in a person's mind that that is probably the correct usage, which it isn't. In March of 1993, I wrote, in part, to then Senator Sam Nunn: ...Adding to the confusion are times when several guests on a program say both `Ukraine' and `the Ukraine' on the same television program (MEET THE PRESS, and others). As examples: . January 3, 1993--MEET THE PRESS Both Senator Biden and Mr. Russert incorrectly referred to `the Ukraine,' while Senator Richard Lugar and John Dancy, of NBC News, correctly said `Ukraine.' . January 1, 1993--WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW Independent Reporter Hedrick Smith correctly referred to `Ukraine,' while on the same program Wall Street Journal reporter Michele incorrectly referred to `the Ukraine.' . March 23, 1993--FIRST PRESIDENTIAL PRESS CONFERENCE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE The President referred to Ukraine twice: the first time, he incorrectly said `the Ukraine,' the second time, he correctly said `Ukraine.' . March 28, 1993--FACE THE NATION Secretary of State Warren Christopher once incorrectly referred to `the Ukraine' (this in response to a question from Margaret Warner of Newsweek--she incorrectly said `the Ukraine,' and the Secretary of State picked up on it), and, subsequently, four times he correctly referred to `Ukraine.' Those bygone days are, for the most part, history. However, many videos, books and other sources still have the erroneous reference, and the unsuspecting reader might assume that since the terminology is in use, it's accurate. That's why it's important to highlight the incorrect usage each time. Hopefully, with each correction, the day will come when everybody uses one word to refer to Ukraine. I thank you, A Customer, for affording me the opportunity to bring that point to your attention and to that of other readers of this review. The video Ukraine (Ancient Crossroads, Modern Dreams) is well worth purchasing and the time spent in viewing it. One must seriously question the motives of A Customer and his fellow 21 people who agreed that the video taught them nothing and viewers should save their money. Could it be that the video depicts Ukraine and Ukrainians in a very favorable light? Could it be that the video mentions Bolsheviks, World War I, Soviet colony, Stalin's famine (Holodomor)--and even shows archival footage of starving children? Is showing toddlers and kids dancing a Hopak on the stage of a Ukrainian theater production too Ukrainian? A truly informative/must have VHS called `Hopak, Ukrainian National Dance' may be ordered from the Ukrainian Heritage Foundation of North America, Inc., 2047 Wingate Road, Poland, Ohio 44514. The VHS is a splendid documentary of Vasile Avramenko's Ukrainian folk dances: Hopak-Kolom, Arkan and Hone-Viter. This video is instructional (it will be sent free of charge, upon written request, to colleges and universities having dance groups). The VHS displays the colorful Ukrainian folk costumes and captures the spirit of Ukrainian folk dances in minutia. Ukrainian Vasile Avramenko (1895-1981) was the pre-eminent Ukrainian folk dance instructor. The maestro, as he was called, began his career in 1920 in Ukraine as a choreographer and dance instructor, later immigrating to Canada and on to the United States. He organized dance schools, and in time, there were hundreds of Avramenko schools across North America. In 1931, over 500 Avramenko dancers preformed at the Old Metropolitan Opera House in New York City to high acclaim. An error on the product details page (which I'll be emailing Amazon.com about shortly) is that the language is listed as Russian, although the narrator speaks fluent, unaccented English throughout, and the foreign language that you hear on occasion is definitely Ukrainian. How is it that A Customer and the other 21 people who thought that the video wasn't worth buying haven't bothered to inform Amazon.com of this error--especially since the video has been out since 1993 and the review has been out since 1999? Is it because they haven't seen the video? Or, is it because they don't speak or understand Ukrainian, and, therefore, assume that it's in Russian? My only regret with this video production is that it is way too short. There are scenes in this video that you'll probably never see in other documentaries or typical travelogs (fishermen ice fishing on the Dnipro, or mentioning Igor Sikorsky, the inventor of the helicopter--who was born in Kyiv to a half-Ukrainian mother). Since Amazon.com only allows a top score of five stars, I'll gladly give Ukraine (Ancient Crossroads, Modern Dreams) that--although, it definitely deserves stars reaching far beyond! Addendum: Readers, you're invited to visit each of my reviews--most of them have photos that I took in Ukraine (over 600)--you'll learn lots about Ukraine and Ukrainians. The image gallery shows smaller photos, which are out of sequence. The preferable way is to see each review through my profile page since photos that are germane to that particular book/VHS/DVD are posted there with notes and are in sequential order. To visit my reviews: click on my pseudonym, Mandrivnyk, to get to my profile page; click on the tab called review; scroll to the bottom of the section, and click on see all reviews; click on each title, and on the left-hand side, click on see all images. The thumbnail images at the top of the page show whether photos have notes; roll your mouse over the image to find notes posted. Also, you're invited to visit my Listmania lists, which have materials sorted by subject matter.
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