Obyknovennoe chudo

This is a wonderful fairy love story.

Magician met a young strong bear in the forest and turned him into a man. It is not easy to be a man so the bear asked magician to undo the magic. Well, says the magician, you will turn into a bear if a princess kisses you...

"Have you thought about the princess" yells magician's wife.

The Bear meets a lovely Princess and falls in love. The princess falls in love too.

How dare you not to kiss a girl?

Watching this film may be difficult for many people. For starters, if you don't know Russian, don't bother watching it. A translation would kill this film. And even if you do, you need patience to finish this movie, which is long and doesn't have a lot of action in it. But if you do get to the end, I doubt it's possible not to like this movie. It's one of the best love stories I've ever seen. It's wildly original and at the same time very mesmerizing and sometimes even hypnotic.

The best things in this film are the actors, and everything hands on them. In 1964, there was no CGI, no fancy advanced cameras, certainly not in Russia. So the visual part of this film is not impressive, although it is amazing at conveying the quiet, soulful mode of the film. But the actors here are so brilliant that (assuming you have gotten through the first 5 minutes) they will hold your attention to the very end of the film. The dialogues, the half-glances, all the minute changes in their expressions speak volumes, and that is what the entire film is based on.

This film would be very difficult for anyone that doesn't understand Russian to watch. But in my opinion, it would be well worth learning the language simply to watch this movie, because it is one of the best Russian movies made, and one of the best I've ever seen.

Having been on a roll with Soviet movies and really liking/loving what I'm seeing, An Ordinary Miracle was a very beautifully done film, though I do just prefer the 1978 film with the same name. It clearly looks as though it was made with a lot of love, while the 1978 film was a little better-made the settings are gorgeous to look at, making me wish I was there in that world, the photography likewise. The music is sympathetically used and is elegant in how simple it is. Don't let the fact that it's in Russian put you off, while you won't understand what's been said if you don't speak or know a word from the acting and how lines are delivered you do get the basic gist, which is a good starting point. The acting is a little theatrical, like with the King, but still endearing with the two leads and the Princess. It is also very easy to identify with the bear. The story, with a appropriately quiet and soulful nature to it, has good philosophy and is beautifully romantic and magical. It is long and takes its time, but because it is such a lovely story with hugely engaging characters that you feel a great deal of emotion for(the outcome of the romance is quite heart-breaking, at least to me) it is also hugely rewarding. Overall, a very beautifully done film, if you love it check out the film from 1978 which is in my view even better. 10/10 Bethany Cox