The Ferocious One

The Ferocious One
The Ferocious One
	Film poster
Directed by	Tolomush Okeyev
Written by	Andrey Konchalovskiy; Eduard Tropinin
Starring	Kambar Valiyev; Suimenkul Chokmorov
Cinematography	Kydyrzhan Kydyraliyev
Release date	15 January 1974;
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

The Ferocious One (Russian: Лютый, romanized: Lyutyy, also known as The Fierce One, Kazakh language: Көксерек / Kökserek^[1]) is a 1974 Soviet drama film directed by Tolomush Okeyev.^[2] It was selected as the Soviet entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 47th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[3]

Name of Kokserek

Коксерек (Kokserek) or Көксерек (Kökserek) is a name given to strong, tough wolves.^[4] The name is a combination of the Kazakh words "Көк" ("blue" color, metaphorically "sky") and "Серек" ("protruding" for ears, metaphorically "hearing well").^[5]

Plot

The movie is adapted from a story named Kökserek of Kazakh author Mukhtar Auezov.^[6]

The film tells the story of friendship of a little boy who lives in the desert and a wolf cub. The boy named this wolf cub "Kokserek" (In Kazakh language it is pronounced exactly as "Kökserek".)

One day, Kurmash's uncle takes him hunting, where on the way they come across a wolf hole with cubs. His uncle kills five cubs, but the boy takes the last puppy home. So a wolf cub named Kokserek begins to live in the house. They play together and grow up together. They are friends without the knowledge that people and wolves are enemies. The child's heart does not accept the ruthlessness and cruelty of the adult world. When people want to kill the grown animal, the boy sets his friend free. The adult wolf became extremely feral when released into the wild.^[7] Many years later, they meet again.

There is also a Kyrgyz hard-dubbed version.

Festivals

Locarno International Film Festival; 1974, Special Mention
Chicago International Film Festival; 1975^[8]

Cast

Kambar Valiyev as Kurmash
Suimenkul Chokmorov as Akhangul
Aliman Zhankorozova as Grandma
K. Satyev as Hassen
N. Ikhtimbayev as Son of the Bey

Bibliography

Yönetmenler-Filmler-Ülkeler - 2, Atilla Dorsay, Varlık Yayınları, 1988, P:234-236 - "Kurt Kanı" (in Turkish)
Евгений Данилович Сурков, Люди и волки (О худож. фильме «Лютый») // Искусство кино, № 5, 1974. — стр. 39—50 (in Russian)

References

^ Профессия-кинематографист: Высшие курсы сценаристов и режиссеров за 40 лет / П. Д. Волкова, А. Н. Герасимов, В. И. Суменова, Высшие курсы сценаристов и режиссеров (Москва). — М.: У-Фактория, 2004. — 740 с. — стр. 27 (in Russian)
^ Clarke Fountain. "Lyutyy". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
^ "Көксерек", Sozdik - Kazakh to Russian Dictionary, Access date: 06 May 2022 - with "human check" (in Russian)
^ "Серек", Slovaronline Dictionary, Access date: 06 May 2022 (in Russian)
^ Mukhtar Auezov's story “Kokserek”, Adabiportal, Aizhan Abilda, 04 May 2019
^ The Fierce One (1971), Allmovie ("Overview"), Access date: 06 May 2022
^ The Fierce One - Лютый ("Awards-Festivals"), MUBI, Access date: 08 May 2022