RUSSIAN FAIRYTALE MOVIES

besides all my trading I still have way too much exploring to do in for instance the Jess Franco and wuxia departments, but I was thinking about these Russian fairytale movie DVD's that were/are made available in the west by RUSCICO (distributed in region 1 by Image) and thought it would be nice to start a thread about them. I have little to add myself at the moment. I bought the 'Ruslan and Ludmila' disc a few years back and still haven't found the right moment to watch it! http://www.ruscico.com/dvd.php?lang=en&dvd=93
One I would like to check out and maybe will buy soon is the Snow Maiden
http://www.ruscico.com/dvd.php?lang=en&dvd=101
the price of these discs is what kept me from indulging (exploring) in more of them and they haven't really dropped from when they were first released. I remember some glowing reviews of some of these DVD's in the Dutch 'Filmkrant' but there doesn't seem to be a very large cult following around them in general. Maybe because they are too childish? too theatrical? I still don't know what to expect from them really, besides maybe some very stylish and well made fantasy cinema. So, anybody seen some of these movies and care to enlighten us??
would be cool

EDIT: found that Filmkrant article on-line! (Dutch language) http://www.filmkrant.nl/av/org/filmkran/ar...5/russisch.html

Thanks for the link, Petcor!

And how about FATHER FROST (aka JACK FROST) as seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000?

http://www.ruscico.com/dvd.php?lang=en&dvd=72

Yeah thanks to MST I've seen Jack Frost/Father Frost/Morozko, Magic Voyage Of Sinbad/Sadko, The Day The Earth Froze/Sampo, and The Sword And The Dragon/Ilya Muromets. Id have to say my favorite is Magic Voyage Of Sinbad. That's a pretty crazy movie and I like the special effects! Jack Frost is also very entertaining.

I've never seen the MST programme but I've heard about it. They show genre movies that are really bad with at the bottom of the screen a few guys / puppets who make fun of it all. So, does that mean that the titles mentioned here are not very well made at all, or is my interpretation of the MST formula a bit off? I had thought (most of) these movies were very expensive productions made by expert craftsmen (the only genre they were free to put their creativity loose on as there was major censorship in Russia at that time)

You are right. Not only these Soviet movies were high-budgeted productions, but the three that you mentioned, "Jack Frost / Morozko", "The Magic Voyage of Sinbad / Sadko" and "The Sword and the Dragon / Ilya Muromets" were directed by highly talented directors, Aleksandr Rou (Morozko) or Aleksandr Ptushko (the two others). It's a shame than a stupid TV programme like MSK3 was even authorized to ridiculize these movies - even if the cut to ribbons and badly dubbed US prints were only shadows of the originals. The late Alan Upchurch made a definitive study on Ptushko and his movie in several old issues of "Video Watchdog".

I've never seen MST programme either, but I believe they did episode on Mario Bavas Diabolik also So clearly they don't have any respect for anything… Anyways I love these Soviet fairytale movies. All titles already mentioned are definitely recommended. I would also recommend Alexander Rows The Kingdom Of Crooked Mirrors and Vassilisa the Beautiful. And of course the horror masterpiece Viy and scifi Amphibian man are just great (although they are not in the Ruscicos fairy tale collection).

The Day the Earth Froze aka Sampo is one of my obsessions, so if anyone has any material (posters, VHS, anything) I don’t already have I’m very interested to buy or swap… Sampo is a Finnish Soviet co-production that was bit of a scandal in Finland at its release, as the final film is not very loyal to the Kalevala. And as Kalevala is national epic of Finland some people were a bit disappointed. Finnish edit of the film is actually different compared to the Soviet version (out on VHS in Germany), as the Finnish production end tried to make the film a bit more loyal to the original text. And then there is of course the US edit the Day the Earth Froze, the film was also sold to Japan where (if my source is right) Mr. Ishirô Honda was in charge of the Japanese dubbing/edit. Oh and, Finlands very first kung-fu/wuxia film Jadesoturi made in 2006 by Antti-Jussi Annila also uses Kalevala mythology if anyone is interested...

I have the Finnish version of "Sampo" - I didn't know that the editing was different, I thought it was just a dubbing of the Russian actors (the Finnish ones keeping their true voices I think). So I must get the Russian version by now !

Actually it's more complicated. The film was shot in 4:3 and in scope and partly (i.e. the dialogue scenes) in Russian and in Finnish. I have this German VHS:

http://www.amazon.de/Das-gestohlene-Gl%C3%...19588211&sr=8-2

I’m not 100% sure if it’s the Soviet edit, but I assume it is (just dubbed in German) as it has a lot of differences compared to the Finnish version. Alternative takes of some scenes, some scenes are in different order and even some little bits that are not in the Finnish version. I have both Finnish VHS tapes and have few TV recordings also, and unfortunately all are 4:3. I know that there is Finnish cinema print in scope, but I have not seen it…

Out of curiosity is your Finnish version from some French source? And was the film ever shown in French cinemas? I would love to get French poster etc. material…

Nope, they poked fun at any movie, regardless of culture.

C'mon guys, it's silly to bash something you've never seen. Nobody destroyed the original prints in favor of versions with silhouettes and wisecracks. It's all in good fun.

The MST folks are actually fond of some of the films they showed. I know they like those Russo-Finnish movies (they have stated that they are well made and enjoyable many times). Diabolik is my favorite movie (actually tied with G/B/U) so I wouldn't enjoy that episode if I thought they showed it to tear it apart. Some of the movies they watched are just bad, but in the case of some of the better ones, they are just laughing along with things most of the time.

My VHS tape of SAMPO came from Finland. I don't remember this movie being released in France, or shown on TV - curiously enough, as other movies directed by Aleksandr Ptushko were widely seen, both in theaters and TV, like "Sadko", "Ilya Murometz", "Ruslan & Ludmilya", "The Stone Flower", etc.

I have seen some episodes of MST and found them more exasperating than amusing. It's like being in a movie theater with people just before you talking and talking and talking. If a movie is bad (and a LOT are bad, I agree) I can see that by myself. It's not necessary to have somebody telling me where I must laugh.

let's not make this in to a thread about MST. I can see how that show could be fun if the comentary is really witty and will leave it there.
Thanks everyone for the detailed info on Sampo and all other recomendations so far!!
I guess it is safe to say one should be aware of re-dubbed and editted versions of these movies and, so, maybe these RUSCICO DVD's are the only good source at the moment?
are there any good reviews online, somthing with pictures? I haven't found anything good so far...

Hey sorry about that man, I didn't mean to hijack the thread and turn it into an MST debate! I just thought Id mention MST because these movies are probably best known in the U.S. because they were shown on there.

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled programming

Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors, Barbara Fair with Golder Hair and Aladdin are my favourites of the genre, very much recomended if you're into exotic and adventurous stuff and don't mind that they're a bit childish.

can you tell some more? how childish are they and in what way? are they musicals? theatrical? can you compare them to something (disney cartoons? harryhausen? ... eeh, bollywood?)