Fresh after watching this for the first time (certainly not the last!), here are some un-assorted notes of what I felt.
I got this Soviet "fairy tale" movie with Feb. 2009 SuperIllu (German DEFA dub only, rated "for age 0 and above", titled "Die Eisfee" (ice fairy)), and it sure excited me more than many "adult" movies I watched in the last few years.
Father Frost (not shown) has many snowflakes as grand-daughters, of whom we follow one, Lyuba, as she turns into a human, moves in with a queer old couple, falls in love with potter Gridya, is abducted by the (surprisingly subtle) duke to marry him, escapes to turn into snowflake again, shock-freezes a number of people, and finally turns back into human again in Gridya's arms.
There's so much style in this seemingly kiddie movie (which I did not find childish at all). Even though in sound (including much Tchaikovsky music, strong folk song & dance, and fiddle music that sounded Irish to me) and color, many scenes exude the glorious histrionics of silent movies. Great visuals too - scenes in the snow, the duke's "castle"...
Extremely lovely, though very far away from conventions as seen from Hollywood. I liked Aleksandr Rou's kiddie movies (Baba Yaga and all), but this one sure trumps them. 9/10.
I got this Soviet "fairy tale" movie with Feb. 2009 SuperIllu (German DEFA dub only, rated "for age 0 and above", titled "Die Eisfee" (ice fairy)), and it sure excited me more than many "adult" movies I watched in the last few years.
Father Frost (not shown) has many snowflakes as grand-daughters, of whom we follow one, Lyuba, as she turns into a human, moves in with a queer old couple, falls in love with potter Gridya, is abducted by the (surprisingly subtle) duke to marry him, escapes to turn into snowflake again, shock-freezes a number of people, and finally turns back into human again in Gridya's arms.
There's so much style in this seemingly kiddie movie (which I did not find childish at all). Even though in sound (including much Tchaikovsky music, strong folk song & dance, and fiddle music that sounded Irish to me) and color, many scenes exude the glorious histrionics of silent movies. Great visuals too - scenes in the snow, the duke's "castle"...
Extremely lovely, though very far away from conventions as seen from Hollywood. I liked Aleksandr Rou's kiddie movies (Baba Yaga and all), but this one sure trumps them. 9/10.
