Ma-ma

When is this ever coming out on DVD? There's a huge untapped nostalgic market waiting for you in Norway and Sweden. TVIN, the Russian TV-company who owns the rights to this, are you listening?

If you are interested in seeing this come out on DVD, you can mail your interest in the DVD to: info@tvin.ru

Their contact page can be found at: http://www.tvin.ru/cgi-bin/section.cgi?IdS=15

Please do not force us into piracy just to watch this great piece of work. Bring Christmas of days past into our hearts again! Songs like "Mommy" are forever classics, and so is this tale.

This is not my typical film at all; a baltic/russian musical movie for children, with rock'n'roll music..

I don't like musicals much, and I grew up with everything being rock/pop, so I don't like rock much either. But this movie is great.. maybe it's because I watched it as a kid? The movie has got that magical touch, and a strange, mystical tone to it. It was certainly scary the first time I saw it. And the music is gripping, even though it's, as said, not my style at all. I would like to see/hear it again to see if it is as special as I remember it.

Also, I see other people are interested in seeing it again. It's important in the DVD era not to let old movie gems disappear before they can get into DVD print, so I decided to see if it was possible to trace it.

After some searching on the web, eventually using the name of the guy playing the wolf, Titi Suru (Mikhail Boyarsky), I found a contact address (seemingly a friend of his) which I tried, and luckily, this person got me in contact with the russian television company TVIN which are now distributing the rights (and are interested in making a DVD, depending on interest).

I remember this film from my childhood years...

It was shown on Swedish TV and i loved it. I still remember some of the songs - and some of the girls - and would give a lot to see it again.

As one speaker said before; Great films (for children) during this period, from the east block.....

What can I say?... This is a unique musical/movie from the mid 70's, made in the eastern Europe, that I would recommend to everyone, especially children. It will touch them/you for life! It's not only fantastic songs (like the title "Ma-Ma"), that will stick in your brain for ever, there is also great dancing and skating that fit very well with the story. This is far superior to Hollywood productions, and so on.

The details of the houses in the village (and other scenes), and their originality, the great costumes and characters, makes this a joy to watch. Also, the use of lighting, colors, and special effects, makes it a visual gem.

The story is quite simple but very gripping. With the music, it's hard to not get a tear in your eye.

I watched it recently on Norwegian television with both children and adults. The children switched from hiding behind the sofa, being sad, to dancing around in the living room in joy. The adults (including me) started, almost at the same time, to sing or hum the title melody when it came. Even though I saw it the first time in the early 80's (I think), I still love it, and now I can really appreciate the quality of the dancing and skating, making it even better.

There were made at least two versions of this musical at the same time (not dubbed); One Russian and a English version. The English version is not perfectly clipped or synced (speach/sound), but good enough (originally).

The big problem today, is that the copies TV stations have is of poor quality (sound/picture), at least here in Norway. Also, they are in 4:3 format, and not cinematic like the original (widescreen). VHS copies (with English sound) is rear, and I don't think there is released a DVD version.

Here in Norway this musical is a classic. It was shown on national TV during the 80's until mid 90's, but have started again now (at Christmas time), and will probably do so the next years. That's the nice thing about classics, you never forget them, and you still want to watch them. Like this one.

If you haven't seen it, please do, especially if you have children.

I give it 10/10 because of the original English version. I will not reduce my vote because of the TV stations bad copy (and not cinematic/widescreen).

Mama is the movie of my childhood. I went maybe 20 times at the theater to watch it as a child. The characters, the story, the music, the ice skating ballet... they all make a perfect picture. Some say it's a Russian picture. The main characters are played by Russian actors: Ludmila Gurchenko and Mihail Boyarsky. Yuri Entin is one of the writers. Tha "Balsoi" Ballet Group, The Moskow Circus and The Children Ice Ballet were used for the dancing and ice skating scenes. And oh, what a great job they did! But I consider it a Romanian picture. The director, Elisabeta Bostan (a great director for children movies) is Romanian. Half of the cast is Romanian. The story is Romanian - Ion Creanga's 'The Goat With Three Bucks' (Ion Creanga is a great Romanian storyteller, I consider him Romania's Hans Christian Andersen). The costumes that the Goat and the 5 Bucks are wearing are traditional Romanian costumes. And the music is so Romanian... I saw the Romanian version. I was impressed how the Russian actors seemed to speak Romanian (their voices were obviously dubbed, but still, it looked like they were speaking Romanian!). I have a four years old daughter. I was thrilled to find Mama on VSH Tape in a gas station. And now I can't stop my little girl to watch it over and over again. The picture works like a charm on the new generation also.