Oslinaya shkura

Charles Perrault's "Donkey Skin" is one of the lesser known fairy tales. It's about a princess who disguises herself in the pelt of a gold-excreting donkey to avoid an unpleasant marriage. A notable adaptation was Jacques Demy's 1970 movie starring Catherine Deneuve in the title role.

Well, it turns out that the Soviet Union made its own version of the story. "Oslinaya shkura" ("The Donkey's Hide" in English) isn't as flashy as the French version but still has lots of charm. The opening and closing scenes with the paintings added a special element to the storytelling. A number of the scenes come across as more slapstick, especially the scene with the wicked fairy.

I should admit that a number of the scenes made me throw out sarcastic comments like on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". But it's mostly a good movie. I like seeing the different cultures' perspectives on fairy tales.

The film portraits Perrault's children story of "The Princess in Donkey's Clothes" that is relatively known all across Europe, and featured in numerous Children's books. Shortly after being born, Princess Theresa, King Gaston IX's daughter gets an enigmatic curse casted by an evil fairy. That is forgotten until the princess has grown up, and, instead of marrying with the prince she loves, her father, influenced by the princess' evil stepmother tries to make her marry an old King for the money. The princess runs away, disguises herself and her adventures begin. A nice children's movie that remembers that it doesn't matter how you look on the outside, but who you are on the inside.