Mavka: Aventura na Floresta

As a Ukrainian, I have seen many bad films and cartoons, and it was hard for me to leave the cinema every time after watching some bs. It was like that every time. Till this moment.

Beautiful. Funny. Positive. Instructive.

That's all about this cartoon.

This is a very very Ukrainian cartoon based on the work of a Ukrainian writer, and it is amazing to see the culture of your country in such a high-quality film.

I was amazed that in Ukraine they were able to create such a masterpiece. Really. Without such budgets as in Disney, without such specialists, but it is clear that it is made with soul. And even with the smaller capabilities, it still looks great.

You can learn something about the culture of Ukraine, and if you don't care about that - you'll just have a good time with a very... unusual but good cartoon. Even if you are 3 years old, even if you are 33.

Being mostly raised on Disney's cartoon in a post soviet Ukraine I must admit, that this is the first cartoon of its kind(made in Ukraine) that deeply touched my stale, selfish ego.

Even though the film was in production for something like 3 years, and was postponed for release several times (the last, probably due to the war), I like to admit that the final result is remarkably good.

Needless to say, that international viewers will miss some real fun & insights related to local (modern) Ukrainian culture, due to translation(as this always happens), but I hope, that the most important senses will get positive acclaim.

P.s. The movie is based off a classic poetic play, called "The Forest Song" by Lesya Ukrainka, which all Ukrainian kids study in mid-school.

It's been said the film industry seems to be running out of original ideas. I now also believe they are running out of ideas for original animated films AND characters. I've seen several animated movies the past two years that felt a bit stale. Although still a beautiful film with incredible animation, 'Mavka: The Forest Song' unfortunately is one of those that did not have that 'fresh' feeling to it.

Many years ago a sawmill owner from a village went into the Dark Forest looking for a cure for his sick young daughter. The Forest Guardian gave him a drop from the Tree of Life. After his daughter was cured, the owner - along with several villagers - went looking for more, resulting in a battle between the Forest Dwellers and the villagers. The Guardian then banned humans from the forest.

Enter Mavka. She is a nymph - a beautiful, sweet girl with a kind heart, who brings the forest to life at the start of Spring. Enter Kylina. She is the sawmill owner's daughter, and now the film's antagonist who wants to find the Tree of Life for herself. She offers riches to the villagers for going into the Dark Forest, but they are unwilling. Only one man, Lucas - an aspiring musician who needs money for medicine to save his sick uncle Leo - is willing to go.

And so he embarks on a journey into the forest, where he soon meets Mavka. As predicted, romance was sure to blossom for these two characters. As I mentioned, this is a beautiful film with an interesting enough premise - only, none of the characters felt original. I recognized characters from so many other animated films like Snow White, Tangled, Rise of the Guardians, Tinker Bell, and events from live action films like Australia, Twister, Lord of the Rings, to name just a few. And don't tell me that scene where the forest dwellers gather under their sacred Tree of Life doesn't look like an exact replica of a similar scene from Avatar! How many films did you recognize in 'Mavka'?

The film features good humour, and then also very cartoonish humour, and thus dividing the audience between a young and mature demographic. While this is a film young and old can enjoy, adults will most likely deem many of the scenes more suited for kids.

Having said that - and it does sound like I'm criticizing the movie, doesn't it? - this was still worth the watch. It certainly was better than some of the other animated offerings as of late. Its still the kind of movie that will bring parents and kids together for a fun movie night experience.

Foreign viewers, fans of fantasy, may involuntarily compare this cartoon with Princess Mononoke, but all the responsibility here lies solely with the screenwriters, who probably wanted to add or even replace the depressive texts of the Ukrainian poetess with a more joyful and childlike naivety, where good triumphs over evil, and there is a happy ending at the end of the movie. The cartoon is really high-quality and interesting for both children and adults. I would like to single out interesting secondary characters, such as Frol, Erek and Derek (which are very reminiscent of the Klitschko brothers) , and the forest character Hook, and of course the forest naiads. Musical compositions performed by Dakha Brakha (as well as their cartoon characters), Khrystyna Soloviy and Artem Pyvovarov fit very harmoniously into the feature film. It is very pleasant that animated films based on the works of Ukrainian poets, poetesses,writers began to appear on the big screens.

This picture is a work of art in the field of animation. The team worked on the cartoon for about five years, which passed in vain. As a result, we have a quality Ukrainian product that can compete with the outstanding films of famous filmmakers. The voice actors were chosen very well, they seem to live the lives of their animated characters. And it is very nice to know that the basis of such a beautiful cartoon is the literary work of the Ukrainian writer Lesya Ukrainka. I am very happy and very proud that my country has such talented people who can satisfy my aesthetic needs as a film lover.