AllMovie

Produced in the Ukraine by a home-grown production staff, this comic opera was released in English-speaking countries as Cossacks Beyond the Danube. The story is set in 1772, the year that Russian empress Catherine II ordered the destruction of an island fortress on the Dnieper river, long the stronghold of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Left without shelter or protection, the Cossacks and their families head across the Danube to the apparently safe haven of Turkey. The film's comedy arises from the efforts made by one Cossack clan to adjust to their new home, and from the eccentric behavior of an amorous Turkish sultan. Not surprisingly, the film appealed most to the Ukrainian audience for which it was intended.