Bitter Harves1t5

VETERAN Terence Stamp broke two ribs and smashed his pelvis in six places when a horse fell on him while filming this historical saga.

Sadly, I don’t think seeing the finished film will offer him much comfort.

The 78-year-old goes all out as a fearsome Ukrainian rebel battling evil Russian imperialists during The Holodomor – the famine deliberately started by Joseph Stalin.

Sadly, the scene where he charges at Tamer Hassan’s evil secret policeman with a giant scimitar is the only memorable moment. The real problem is the one-dimensional script. There is little doubt The Holomodor was an act of genocide. But not every Russian in the 1930s could have been as evil, nor every Ukrainian as noble, as portrayed here.

Hassan does everything bar twirl a moustache while playing the black-shirted Russian officer whose hobbies include running over peasant women on horseback and desecrating churches.

Considering the situation in Ukraine, this simplistic view feels more like propaganda than drama.

The romance between the two leads – Max Irons’ dreamy artist Yuri and the sweet Natalka (Samantha Barks) – feels just as unconvincing.