Aladin ou la lampe merveilleuse

The Soviet film industry was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a hotbed for fantastic stories of witchcraft, magic, and monsters. Aladdin's Magic Lamp is a typical example of the genre, and while it's no classic, it certainly has much in its favour. Take, for example, the marvelous opening sequence, as a black-robed magician conjures a spell under the stars and proceeds to enter Baghdad by midnight. The widescreen photography is gorgeous (though the colours on Ruscico's DVD tend to flutter), the genie in the bottle impressive, and the lead actors well cast, especially Battleship Potemkin's Andrei Fajt as the aforementioned sorcerer and the beautiful Dodo Chogovadze as the spoiled princess who falls for a working class hero. There's also decent comic relief from Otar Koberidze as the princess's easily manipulated father. Fans of fantastic cinema will want to seek this one out.

One of seductive Soviet films for fair mix of humor, nice special effects (naif for our time ), acting - the androgenous Aladin , acted by Boris Bystrov or the naif, spoiled princess Budur offered by Dodo Chokovadze , Andrei Fajt as the dark witcher and the to easy manipulated sultan of Otar Kokeridze are good points of a film who seems have a precise target - ex kids of Comunist world. Because, maybe i am wrong, the sweetness of film works, for new generations, not very well.

But, sure, the flavors of nostalgia to middle age persons and little older are good gift . And, be real honest, it is just a beautiful version of Aladin story, better, in many senses by others, with higher ambitions.

In short, seductive, amusing and, bizarre, maybe, for a part of viewers,well crafted .

ALADDIN AND HIS MAGIC LAMP is a typical version of the classic stories, this time made by Russia who had a long tradition of similar heroic fantasy. Rather slightly plotted, this gets by on the visuals alone, which although dated still pack a punch, particularly with the genie FX. The rest is the usual story of evil rulers, princesses waiting to be saved, and everyday heroism.

I'm from Lithuania, so this just to be one of my favorite childhood movies. Of course, I'm not a Soviet Union fan, but the movie always was something very magical for me. Mostly because I emphasized with the princess (my childhood was all about princesses) a lot. Now I watched it again and I feel surprised by their acting and visual effects (for that time and place). But the biggest impression for me was princesses costumes. I mean, I have never seen a better dressed princess in my life! This movie might seem like a dream (in a funny way), but I recommend to watch it at least for costumes. They are unforgettable.

I'm a huge fan of the fantasy genre, and "Arabian Nights" themed films are some of my favorites. Very few are as well-made as this gem. It's hard to believe this was made by the Soviets. They actually did a great job with this. The characters are especially endearing. I highly recommend this funny, fantastic movie for kids of all ages.