REEES Film Series: The Elusive Avengers

The Elusive Avengers (dir. Edward Keosayan, 1967, 77 min)

Edward Keosayan’s The Elusive Avengers continues to build on the themes raised in Samson Samsonov’s The Burning Miles. Keosayan incorporates Civil War themes into the iconography of a traditional Western plot. Set in Ukraine, the film follows the story of four teenage friends who get together to protect a village that is being harassed by a gang of bandits led by nefarious Ataman Burnash.
The film is based loosely on Pavel Blyakhin’s novel The Red Imps (1921), which was previously adapted by Ivan Perestiani in 1923. The Elusive Avengers quickly elevated Keosayan to the status of a celebrity, and the film itself is widely considered a cult classic.

Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies | View More Events
Co-hosted with: Princeton Institute for International & Regional Studies, Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (OWNER), Slavic Languages & Literatures

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