Morozko

C'mon people,

this is a freaking f a i r y t a l e! what do you expect from a fairy tale for small children? in Russia, it is considered a movie for 3-5 year olds. i was really disappointed with some hostile comments i've read here - like "a movie for commies" and so on. Why should the movie be the reason to express hate and cheap stupid irony towards the Russian people and Russian children? What does this movie have to do with Communism (by the way, how many of 'smart reviewers' know what the term means? Do not be so hypocritical, ladies and gentlemen. Just admit you want to say crap about Russia or russians because you are ignorant and brainwashed by your media. You don't need a movie for 5 year olds to do that - just go ahead and talk crap for the sake of it. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Did not see the English edition, and happy about it. Being 100% fluent in both Russian and English, I cringe thinking how mangled a translation can get either way. Especially if the original is real heavy on cultural lore. I did watch and love the Russian movie - as little kid, and as a grown-up. This movie has very little 'Soviet' in it, really. It does promote the basic human values of being kind, brave, honest, polite etc, but is fully based on ancient Russian fairy tales. Slavic culture is thousands of years old, and these tales are on par with Kalevala, Ramayana, Beowulf, Iliad and other ancient epics.

To great credit of communist rule, the cultural background awareness was not suppressed, but strengthened and encouraged during Soviet era. Books were printed, movies were made; ancient Russian literature and history were studied in schools. Like many other European cultures, Russians preserved their identity. This movie is something they IDENTIFY with. In fact, any culturally educated person - not necessarily Russian - will recognize this movie for what it is and respect it.

The movie is wonderful. It is delightful and charming. Yes, it is pretty old and "computer graphics" cannot compete with the latest "Star Wars" edition. So what? It is a real pleasure to watch this movie regardless of your age if you are connected with (or interested in) Russian culture.

Just a few words for those who suggest to burn it. Guys, what way are you better than Nazis who burnt the books they didn't understand or accept?

Some more for the others. Please don't treat it as Finnish. Finland has its own fabulous culture, but it has very little in common with this movie. It is all Russian. Well, some motives are similar to those found in other nations fairy tales. I guess anyone acquainted with different peoples tales was amazed how much in common they had regardless of geographical location. Dear Americans, some things in this movie came from ancient Slavic tribes legends, thousand years before Columbus birth. Don't misunderstand me here, I have no intention to proclaim any culture to be superior than another one, I just want to explain some difficulties you can encounter while trying to understand this movie. They can be really overwhelming, but still not the reason to refute a different vision of the world. Please don't treat this movie as a documentary as well, it is a fairy tale without any claim for realism.

A final bit of advice if you please: if you watch Morozko once more don't strain your mind, rely on your feelings and impressions instead, try to empathize, not to rebuff. Actually this is applicable to almost everything Russian...

OK. I guess some explanation from native Russian, who enjoyed this movie as a kid (among millions) and still enjoys it, a required... :)))) First of all, some facts: - This movie is a really considered to be CLASSICS, believe it or not. And it has a lot of awards. That's why it was re-released on tape in USA. - There was NO computer effects available back in 1964. Comparing to fairy movies made worldwide at the same era, the FX is OK. - The plot may seem pretty strange, but hey, look at Alice In Wonderland for example: White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Caterpillar on a mushroom smoking something like pot, Mock-Turtle, a kingdom of playing cards, constant size changes, etc - all in one single tale. :))))))

Now back to the movie. There's two main lines in the plot. The first one is about a smart, handsome guy (Ivan), who was too egocentric so Mushroom Pixie just punished (cursed) him, turning him in half-bear. After the guy did repent he turned into a human again. The second one is a Cinderella-type story which I guess appears in all ethnic tales worldwide. So the plot is pretty clear - both heroes has to overcome the negative obstacles and then they get the reward, and get married.

Now about the `weird' stuff. It's all common to Russian fairy tales. Jack Frost usually plays to roles in a fairy tale - as an analog of Santa and also as an impersonation of a Winter itself. A kind of a pagan lesser god. (Pagan heritage is very strong in a Russian folk tales). The Witch - Baba Yaga also has some dualism in fairy tale. Sometimes she's just typical evil witch, sometimes just an unpredictable witch who can help the hero for some reasons.Oh, and a House On The Birds' Legs is her certain attribute.

Another important note - the entire movie has a grotesque aesthetics. First of all, it's in a Russian folk tradition, than it's a movie for kids, so all the villains just must be ugly and funny at the same time. Sorry, but politically correct tale will be just boring.

So for an average Russian kid it's just a very impressive funny movie with a lot of action. Where the Evil is punished and all the Good get a reward.

Must see it with an open mind! And keep in mind that it is an old Russian folktale, it is an old movie 1964 and translation as always is oversimplified.

1) This is not a Fairytale it is a FOLKTALE and the difference is huge!!! 2) Yes – Russian folk contains the elements of cannibalism 3) Yes – it states that time is illusion 4) Yes – Good always wins over Bad 5) Please read any folktales of African, Eskimo, Native American cultures and you'll see that almost all of these tales possess the same elements: talking birds, animals and trees that are human in someway...

6) Did this movie seemed psychedelic to you? Maybe because Russian folk were influenced by intake of psychedelic substances (Agaricus - the beautiful red mushroom with white dots) just like many other old cultures were influenced with intake of hallucinogenics or fasting to alter their mind and reality. 7) Some one wrote – `I suspect that there was simply lots and lots and lots of vodka present at the making of this film. After all, they had to keep warm in the snow, didn't they?' – This is very sad! Do Russians drink alcohol? Believe me no more than people from other countries do! Unfortunately Americans grew up on stereotypes that were fabricated by propaganda. 8) This is one of my favorite movies of all times. I don't know what kind of comments were made by the crew of MST3k but now after reading all these commentaries, I can see that they completely butchered the movie. And people who referring to the bad dialogs – how can you judge when you don't understand Russian and translations are always over simplified… The perception on acting, I guess, is very different in every country, you not going to compare the acting in Hollywood movie and acting in a play that is shown in theaters, right? Well, acting in Russia is different than Hollywood's it is more theatrical. 9) And about poorly made – the movie was made in 1964, for god's sake! 10) Some one wrote – "Nastinka" is CUTE…' – well, it just shows what Americans expect of the movies to be and that is why Hollywood is full of `cute' but talent less actors! 11) And to all of you who wrote that this is a mix of other stories… Well, the sad fact is that Americans don't even know the original stories! Because they only know what primitive Disney made for them. I am not talking of Walt Disney he was a great artist. But the Disney studio is a shame to his name. Very surprisingly Americans don't even know that Bambi is not a Disney story – it was a book at first, written in 1923 by Siegmund Salzmann 1869-1945. I live in USA for 13 years and did not meet even one person who would know that.