Les Aventures de Bouratino

While Carlo Collodi's acclaimed Pinocchio book has remained a staple of moral literature for decades, Russian writer Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy's adaptation The Golden Key is also a fascinating take on the classic. What started as a reimagined take for Tolstoy's own children became a staple of Russian children's media from 1936 onward, resulting in numerous film adaptations. One of the most cherished is Leonid Nechayev's made for television musical feature, The Adventures of Buratino (Italian for puppet). Regarded as a cult classic during and after the Soviet era, there's a lot to admire in the film for all ages.

The film follows a boy made of wood named Buratino, who meets the children of Karabas Barabas' theatre and sets out to free them. His goal to do just that is to discover a golden key given by the turtle Tortila. It's easy to say that the film is about the morality of being safe and secure as a little wooden boy, and in presenting that, the filmmakers allowed Buratino to shine on screen. Buratino is a dramatically dynamic character getting himself into countless situations, like being swindled by the crooked Alice the Fox and Basilio the Cat and being followed by the malicious Karabas and his loyal friend Duremar. In addition to his heartfelt creator Papa Carlo, Buratino's supporters include the children's theatre commedia dell'arte performers, who keep trying and failing to teach the titular wooden boy about being good in the world. The contrast between good natured and ill intent are quite obvious through the differing characters, yet thanks to the boastful cast, their performances shine through humor, pathos, horror, anger, and lots and lots of happiness.

Much of the entertainment comes from the soundtrack by composer Alexey Rybnikov and songwriters Bulat Okudzhava and Yuri Entin. Known for their previous work in Russian children's films, the songs are often presented more than spoken dialogue throughout the more than 2 hour runtime, allowing for the story to be told in lieu of musical accompaniment. With a strange balance of serious subject matter and energetic surreal metaphors, it's almost as if we as the audience are experiencing a live theater recreation of the original Tolstoy book. The limited choreography is not as important as the songs' messages and presentation of retro Italy, especially through the eyes of people that lived during those times. Next to the songwriting crew, the real star of the picture is child actor turned filmmaker Dmitry Iosifov as Buratino himself, as he brings the character to life with the right amount of spunk and sarcasm needed for a curious lad like that. The mere factor that he went on to voice Pinocchio of all people later in his life shows just how much of an impact he left on the Russian public.

Although it will obviously catch on more to the European public than internationally, there's no denying how much The Adventures of Buratino has lived on as a classic for the ages. Regardless if you're unfamiliar with the original Tolstoy book or even Collodi's work, this is definitely worth a watch for all ages, albeit with subtitles outside of anyone non-fluent in the Russian language. Much like how Tolstoy was inspired by Collodi to turn one work into another, as well as Nechayev, here's to another possible future for like minded creatives to create their work based off of their own childhood favorites.

Bu! A real "boo" in this family feature is a weird cricket and a malicious talking rat (its presence is simulated by a naughty shadow).

Ra! Or rather "rah"! The movie is one delicious treat for anybody who has ears to hear and eyes to see. Personally was quite enchanted by this movie in my early childhood. "Rah!" to Buratino ("A ya govor-r-r-ryu..."). "Rah!" to Karabas Barabas. "Rah!" to Kot Bazilio and Lisa Alisa. "Rah!" to Duremar. "Rah!" to everybody behind this cinema product.

Ti! Tea. After watching the film it is very important to have two or three cups of tea with some candies. To ponder on life's meaning is essential.

No! No disappointment during the film at all. Only crazy ecstasy ("Kva!").

Russian Buratino is a firestorm. His "birth" scene is one of the best in movie industry. Buratino is making good use of wooden sticks in combat. Bang, bang and Arlekin is down on the floor. At the same time he is no evil imp, but a good fellow and a reliable friend. Then goes Buratino's voice: it is very loud, high, and disturbing, with wonderfully pronounced "r-r-r-r" sounds.

What makes this movie so special is frantic music and songs. When watching some musical, there is a feeling that one or two good songs are wrapped into the rest pointless "add-ons". But here every song and every piece of music counts. The words are clever, too: "Na duraka ne nuzhen nozh..."

One musical piece, when the dolls are jumping into the old chest, is simply not of this world, though quite simple.

A few years ago there was a heavy metal composition "Buratino" on the "Radio of Russia" wave. This new version of the old tune sounded great, adding even more "toughness" to the perception of the original.

One of the IMDb reviewers compares "Buratino" heroes to Japanese anime characters. That's err... weird, but it has a point.

The highest mark for this one is all right. Thank you for attention.

"Buratino" was Aleksey Tolstoy's retelling of Carlo Collodi's "Pinocchio". "Priklyucheniya Buratino" is a completely wacko movie version. Watching it, you probably wouldn't guess that it came from the Soviet Union - least of all from the stagnant Brezhnev era - but this is one of the coolest movies that I've ever seen. It's basically the story packed with hokey '70s music, especially the end scene. What a combination for something set in 1700s or 1800s Italy! One scene in particular reminds one of Jackie Chan's movies (you'll know it when you see it). They must have had fun making this movie.

Anyway, a lot of fun.

This movie was a delight of my childhood. Of course, now,it seems to be a little old-fashioned, but I think a lot of American movies from 70s seems to be old-fashioned, too. Buratino is a very good fantasy, lots of humor, a very good music, a movie for harts, not like new-fashion fantasies with o lots of CGI but without any original idea. Soviet director, (as all authors from communist Europe) prefer fairy tales because it was hard to make movies about reality in a communist country, but in fairy tales directors were be able to do almost everything they wanted, because they said to censorship that it is just a fairy tale, nothing wrong for communism.

its music. the emotions. the characters. and the fragments from the book. for few generations from the East, "The Adventures of Buratino" remains one of the most important memories from childhood. a kind of embroidery of feelings who has a lot of similarities with the circus show or with the games in backyard but who preserves, against the passing decades, its fresh flavor. the face and the voice of Dmitry Iosifov, the terrible huge Vladimir Etush as Karabas - Barabas, Arlekino and Malvina, the cat and the fox, the poor Carlo and the last episode. all as gems from a box of secret treasure.it is almost impossible to describe the state, front to TV screen, in each Sunday, for see a new slice of well known adventures who are different by the reading pages. sure, only emotional memories of the child inside us. but important for this small detail. because " The Adventures of Buratino", more than example of Soviet cinematography, it is testimony about a period from the recent history.