After the critical lambasting of his masterpiece Earth, Dovzhenko returned with a more popular iteration of its main motifs. Much like Earth, Ivan concerns itself with the natural rhythms of country life, disrupted by the beat of looming industrialisation.
About the struggle of serfs and soldiers of the Right-Bank Ukraine, led by the folk hero Karmelyuk (Ustim Karmalyuk, 1787-1835), against the haidukas of Podillya and the Pan's yoke.
