A Beginner's Guide to Soviet Fantasy Cinema

[@Ostara000]

I grew up in East Germany (post 1990) and loved watching the Russian fairytales and love watching them to this day. They're still running on TV around christmas every year. The animated Tsar Saltan from 1984 was one of my first animated films I watched. I love that the art style looks so elegant. Luckily I found the DVD, so I can still watch it.

[@knighttemplaroftentacult7123]

Soviet era movies and cartoons are an absolute Gem of the cinematography. I'd recommend everyone to watch even a bit of them, regardless of what you think of the USSR.

[@RUSTA5]

Why woudnt they be good? USSR was great. We didnt hate or attacked anybody. US and UK do it all the time

[@user-ld1ot3tr6l]

​@@RUSTA5100 % true!

[@maryamebrahimi1384]

thats true! I grew up watching soviet movies and cartoons definately recommend them!!

[@user-ep4pl9kq7g]

Недавно поняла, что все эти фильмы, которые я смотрела в детстве, были сняты задолго до моего рождения!

[@Solaire_au_Frohmage]

A little sidenote: mockery of the elite, although most likely endorsed and influenced by the communist/socialist culture at the time, was mostly taken 1 to 1 from the source material - the fairy tales and folklore, and parallels with, for example, Pushkin's fairy tales' characters could easily be seen.

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Слабые и глупые цари или короли не такая уж сказка. История знает примеры когда изза вырождения корону получали больные, слабовольные и глупые представители монархического рода.

[@ThelIHTCIl]

@@user-nm1gj4qn6w обстоятельства, когда власть в обществе получают не отборные люди, а случайные, сами по себе способствует вырождению. И Советы эту базу поменяли на "равные возможности для всех" - в итоге из сельскохозяйственной страны, дважды разрушенной, создали передовую космическую сверхдержаву. Так что правы были и большевики, и народ, которые высмеивали "элитку по праву рождения"

[@effingcool1780]

Agree. Our ancient folktales also include a lot of stupid and oppressive kings or selfish rich people. Folktales mostly come from normal folks, poor working class people. It represents their dream and imagination, not the imagination of "riches" of society.

[@piotrmalewski8178]

Especially since the Tsars and aristocracy were particularly scary in Russia. Most other countries in Europe developed some sort of protection from the monarchs or even aristocracy. There was the Magna Carta in Great Britiain, parliament controlling taxation in France, or the Law of the Crown (rule of law) in Poland, since middle miedieval times. In Russia however, a Tsar was almighty and a nobleman could execute any peasant at will for no reason untill late XIXth century. Something that was unimaginable in most of Europe at the time.

[@Stellar_Politics]

Marx was right, class conflict exists in every system after primitivism; from medieval Russia to the 20th century.

[@Neonblue84]

I come from East Germany and Russian/Soviet fairy tales were very popular there. It is still a tradition for me to watch old fairy tales from there at Christmas. I really like the well-designed stage set and also the special effects, even if they are now outdated.

[@katlamkatlam1994]

"Mach mit, Mach’s nach, Mach’s besser!" - I'm really miss that show, that spirit. Adi was great! Best wishes from Siberia!

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Интересно а в ГДР снимали какие то свои фильмы в жанре фэнтези или экранизации народного фольклёра ?

[@ThelIHTCIl]

@@user-nm1gj4qn6w точно видел какой-то фильм, то ли советско-немецкий, то ли советско-норвежский - уже не сказка, а фэнтези. совсем плохо помню, но там по-моему у героя вырезали деревню и он пошёл путешествовать по свету. сняли где-то в 80х

[@kamillavalter]

@@user-nm1gj4qn6wконечно, очень много фильмов-сказок от студии Дефа, например Госпожа Метелица.

[@user-fn6kf5ex6t]

​@@ThelIHTCIl"И на камнях растут деревья" называется. Но это драма. Достойный фильм, советую посмотреть. Сам недавно пересматривал. Помню в детстве смотрел, название в голову врезалось как устойчивое выражение.

[@SarabiArt]

There's also "Aladdin and His Magic Lamp" (1967 film), an absolute jem and one of my favorites.

[@czarlipstick3371]

I absolutely adore "Aladdin and His Magic Lamp", and probably my favorite production design of any film, period.

[@mushroomx85]

Almost psychedelic fairy tale they created

[@Kartaljuzin]

Oh I love it!❤

[@vvaska55]

Алладин ... потрясающий фильм.Тонкий юмор и очень стильное художественное решение.Очень красивые молодые актеры.Цитаты из этого фильма вошли в мою жизнь .

[@algalkin]

Also a famous HotTubych - a "modern" 1950s fairy tail about a Genie in a Moscow city.

[@thecandlemaker1329]

I find that the best way to describe Alexander Rou's style to a foreigner is this: take Tim Burton, strip him of all his dark and Gothic sensibilities and replace them with whimsy and bright colours.

[@ivankarkch]

And what you have at the end? what’s left from Tim? Explain please in more details

[@ungobungo7986]

​@@ivankarkchqueer, over the top fantasy infused with comedy and musical elements

[@airarild6906]

@@ungobungo7986 and favorite actor in iconic roles 😄

[@t3n3t]

@@ivankarkch Burton

[@Irgendwas475]

I'm from east Germany and even tho i was born waaaaayy after most of those movies came out, they were my childhood

[@Wallyworld30]

My Favorite Soviet Film ever was Fantasy. "The Amphibian Man" (1961). The Lair that Amphibian Man and his father live in could easily pass for a James Bond's Villain Lair whom's first movie came out after Amphibian Man in 1962. James Bond films clearly took inspiration from this movie for their James Bond Movies.

[@DVXDemetrivs]

13:30 Tugars are a reference not just to the Mongols, but to nomads in general. Polovtsians, Pechenegs, Khazars, Torks. The inhabitants of Rus experienced frequent raids from the great steppe by various nomadic peoples

[@dubuyajay9964]

Cossacks too?

[@user-hx8zv1to9w]

​@@dubuyajay9964 no. Cossacks were semi-independent armed settlers, which lived on the southern border of Russia and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They appeared in 16th century and weren't nomads.

[@DVXDemetrivs]

@@dubuyajay9964 Cossacks are rather people who got out of the feudal system, becoming an intermediate class, adopting the lifestyle of nomads(partially while maintaining the features of a sedentary lifestyle, depending on the territory), while being a considerable number of Slavs and a bunch of other nationalities including the Turks. The Cossacks were a kind of inhabitants of poorly controlled territories, so they led a lifestyle atypical for the feudal era. Therefore, serfs or even nobles often fled to the territory of the Don Cossacks because here you can hide from old enemies or friends and it is unclear who you had to fear more

[@user-ec9bm7dc3n]

If look for comparison in Western hemisphere, cossacks were buccaneers of the steppes - a community of outlaws settled at the edge of established states under a crude constitution of their own

[@thecandlemaker1329]

Cumans, not "polovtsians"

[@nathangibbons9492]

I will add that "The Golden Key" is sort of based on Pinocchio, but not exactly. It's based off of a 1936 book called "The Golden Key" but also known as "The Adventures of Buratino". The book was written by Aleksey Tolstoy as a kind of retelling of Pinocchio for a Soviet readership. I do remember enjoying the 1939 version however, it was fun.

[@antonsimachkov6255]

Who do they call him? Bu! Ra! Ti! No! Buratino!

[@deniskhafizov6827]

where "burattino" is Italian word for "puppet"

[@Vasily_dont_be_silly]

It's funny that so many classic pieces of literature of the 20th century were not just translated, but adapted with many different changes in the USSR. Pinocchio became Buratino, The Wizard of Oz was adapted as The Wizard of Emerald City, and Dr. Dolittle as Dr. Aibolit. What's even more interesting, is that the majority of Russian speaking people know these adaptations very well but may have no clue about the source material. Everyone in post-USSR countries knows the story of Dr. Aibolit, but almost no one has heard anything about Dr. Dolittle

[@vechnoezabvenie]

@@Vasily_dont_be_silly And that's highly controversial, if I may say. No royalties were ever paid to the original authors or anyone else entitled, as far as I know (The Wizard of Oz and Dr. Dolittle were certainly not royalty-free), while their ideas were used to publish stories in the Soviet Union. By basically all international standards, that would qualify as plagiarism.

[@nothing3065]

I'm not sure copyright existed then. And also USSR had no copyright laws... At least you can enjoy the entirety of sovied media for free on KZbin

[@TheSoundonly12]

Mark Zakharov's films are absolute gems, especially That Very Same Munchausen and To Kill a Dragon. The dialogue is full of iconic phrases that are endlessly quotable. "Smile, gentlemen. Most of the greatest stupidities in the world are done with serious faces. So smile, gentlemen." "All love is legal if it's love". "He left his wife alone with a kid!" - "Who are you calling a kid? I'm an officer!" - "He left his wife alone with an officer..."

[@JaneXemylixa]

"I understand now what your trouble is. You are too serious. An intellectual face means nothing: all the folly in the world is committed with this exact expression. Smile, gentlemen! Smile."

[@coyoteranger]

текст писал великий Григорий Горин

[@GunslingerAlGilead]

Exactly. Gorin and Zakharov are great people. As Zakharov was a theatre director you can see that his movies are more of a theatrical creation. I’ll add couple of my fav quotes: Observer in the courtroom where a divorce trial is going on: she (Baron’s wife) speaks badly about the Baron Baron: what exactly does she say? Observer: well, it’s clear what: that he’s a scoundrel, crazy, liar Baron: and what does she want? Observer: well, it’s clear what: that he doesn’t leave her 😂

[@Shams_Rumi]

my two most favourite movies of all time! the greatest

[@claranimmer7349]

I always loved this actor playing the Baba Jaga (Georgi Milljar).

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Если бы Александр Роу снимал "Властелин колец" то Георгий Милляр сыграл бы там Голлума.

[@cb9825]

Без сомнения ! 😄​@@user-nm1gj4qn6w

[@GeorgeTavernKeeper]

The biography of Millyar (born de Milieu, son of a French engineer who worked in Russia) is really wild. The "Kashchey" was shot in evacuation in Tajikistan, and Millyar played his role with little make up because, due to malaria and malnutrition, he weighed only 48 kg (106 lb)

[@Kartaljuzin]

Legendary!

[@coyoteranger]

@@user-nm1gj4qn6w И Саурона. И Сарумана. И главного назгула. И того хоббита в девятом ряду на дне рожденья Бильбо. И Тома Бомбадила. И Стража Озера. И этого орка в Мории. И Аркенстон. А вот Смоуга сыграл бы Джигарханян - "Ну, здравствуй, мил человек, заходи, гостем будешь. Садись, давай покалякаем о делах наших грешных..."

[@haiironotategami]

You must watch the Soviet Jungle Book called "Mowgli". Bagheera's character animation is incredible. Soviet animators managed to show femininity (in the Soviet version Bagheera is a female character, which is caused by the perception of the name Bagheera in Russian) and even some sexuality in the cat's movements.

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Когда я впервые смотрел американский мультфильм про Маугли я не сразу мог понять в дубляже, Багира там самец или самка. В мультике есть эпизод где Багира пытается втолковать весельчаку Балу почему Маугли нужно вернутся в свою стаю. Багира говорит; Ну ведь пантеры не выходят замуж за медведей. На что Балу отшучивается; ну мне пока что ни одна пантера предложения не делала.

[@circulator13]

One of the most beautifully animated cartoons imho

[@Vasily_dont_be_silly]

It's also one of the bloodiest Mowgli adaptations, which is kinda crazy for a cartoon. But I loved it as a kid

[@dannydanny2789]

Soviet furries

[@thecandlemaker1329]

And of course this comment comes from a poster with a fox avatar.

[@Brianna-eo8nu]

In terms of special effects, The Golden Key (1939) is mind blowing. Not only do you have a variety of effects used like masks and costumes, stop motion, forced perspective and more, they’re also incredibly well done for the time. The scenes with stop motion characters interacting with live action ones are especially mind boggling. As an English speaking animation fan and aspiring animator, it was nailed into my head from so many animation history books, video essays and documentaries that Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) was the first full length animation/live action hybrid movie to truly perfect cartoons interacting with real people. Meanwhile, in Golden Key, you’ve got stop motion characters seamlessly interacting with live actors with matching eye-lines and all like it’s nothing! In the 1930s! How this film isn’t at least a prominent footnote in the history of animation as special effects in cinema is a mystery to me. It deserves way more attention from English speaking cinephiles.

[@soulkeeper7796]

I recommend you to watch Mystery of the third planet (Тайна третьей планеты), Adventures of captain Vrungel (Приключения капитана Врунгеля) and Treasure island (Остров сокровищ). They are the most iconic soviet animation films and they are very unique and inspiring.

[@Nevazno463]

Потому что его сделали русские, поэтому и не занял.

[@ThelIHTCIl]

@@Nevazno463 да... советское наследие тщательно вычищается из памяти, *история переписывается.* До сих пор помню, как пару лет назад что-ли, день космонавтики (в честь первого полёта Юрия Гагарина в космос) поздравляли в НАСА, а на обложке был скафандр с американским флагом. Натянули сову на глобус... Всё равно что евреям на Хануку дарить открытки с Гитлepoм

[@thecandlemaker1329]

@@Nevazno463 Ерунды не неси. Броненосец "Потёмкин", Человека с киноаппаратом, из анимации - Снежную Королеву и Ёжика в тумане знают и изучают во многих странах. Кстати, срежиссировал его украинец Птушко, а музыку написал еврей Шварц. Это к вопросу о "русских".

[@GeorgeTavernKeeper]

To clarify, The Golden Key is not directly based on the Pinocchio - it adapts the book "The Golden Key, or the adventures of Buratino" by Alexey Tolstoy which starts with the similar premises (a boy, this time called Buratino, is made from a log) and has similar characters (fox and cat rogues, evil puppeteer etc.), but develops very differently (Tolstoy said, he started retelling the original story to children and figured he forgot the plot, so he made it up) and, arguably, for the better (it lacks the dull moralism of the Pinocchio) - Buratino is a naïve but inventive and altruistic kid there. In addition to the movie of 1939, it was also adapted as "The adventures of Buratino" in 1959 (an animated movie) and 1975 (2-episodes TV musical) which are less innovative (compared to the 1939's one) but still pretty good.

[@nikolaytekuchev136]

Finally, a westener who pronounces "Baba Yaga" the right way! Bravo.

[@marcusfridh8489]

The fun thing is that the live action version of the Astrid Lindgren Mio my Mio from 1987, was shot in Soviet, it was actually the first acting job of Christian Bale as JumJum, and Christoffer Lee himself played the main villian, the evil knight Cato, who litteraly had a heart of stone.

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

История создания этого фильма не менее захватывающая чем сам фильм.

[@nonFireresist]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHu9gp6BZ5qWbMk ;-)

[@MisanthropyFerret]

@@user-nm1gj4qn6w да и жизнь Кристофера Ли, с которого Бонда написали

[@elenasavelyuk3102]

​​​@@MisanthropyFerretрасстрою.Кристофер Ли никакого отношения к Бонду не имеет. Бонд собирательный образ агентов и мифов о них, с которыми работал Флеминг, но основой стал двойной британский агент времён ВОВ, за которым вел слежку сам Ян Флеминг. Очень интересная судьба у этого агента, кстати. Его звали Душан Попов. Его игру в одном из казино Флеминг потом и описал в Казино Рояль.

[@zerosolem4394]

Also soviet Cinderella (1947)! One of my favourite! Such a warm, very kind and romantic masterpiece with beautiful songs that I even cry sometimes while listening.

[@ladooshka]

Ptushko's "Tale about the Lost Time" ( сказка о потеренном времени) is one of my forever favorite fantasy movie for children. Highly recommended!

[@meiseo6333]

Omg Memory Unlocked I have to rewatch it now, loved it as a kid

[@achezafignya]

Так необычно смотреть видео про те фильмы, которые я смотрела будучи ребёнком. Даже не знаю, что думают все те, кто не рос в странах СНГ, и не смотрел эти произведения.

[@marcl2213]

Это может показаться странным, но именно благодаря версиям, дублированным во Франции (следовательно, на французском языке), я смог посмотреть некоторые из этих фильмов в Канаде. Конечно, у нас, взрослых, другая точка зрения, если бы мы смотрели эти фильмы, когда были маленькими, но они остаются прекрасным кинематографическим наследием! (спасибо Google Translate за то, что я могу писать по-русски!) 😉😊

[@ELDaemon66]

Я в детстве пропустил большую их часть и впервые увидев некоторые отрезки в этом видео был поражён качеством постановки, эффектами и актёрской игрой. В детстве воспринимал это как примитивные спектакли для детей, а на деле многие их этих фильмов даже сейчас могут удивить, как минимум с технической точки зрения.

[@zaebokkun9248]

ну эти фильмы насквозь пропитаны нашей мифологией, нашими сказками и культурой. Очень сложно представить себе среднего американского ребенка, которому понравятся эти фильмы

[@Tofu_va_Bien]

@@zaebokkun9248 Не знаю, как американские дети, но мне бы эти фильмы определенно понравились. Истории не совсем одинаковы, но я вижу много общего между славянской и ирландской мифологией.

[@DenisTrebushnikov]

@@Tofu_va_Bien actually, if you read Joseph Campbell "Hero with thousand faces" (1949) and V.Y. Propp "Morphology of Miraculous Fairytale" (Морфология волшебной сказки) (1928, reprint in 2001), so, you'll find the same monomyth nonetheless it's a western, or keltic, or slavic fairytale. Same structure (simplistic: ordinary world, call to adventure, friends and foes, challenges, death, rebirth, gaining power, way back, testing new skills and powers in ordinary world, marriage). And even if you read Latin Stories of 13th c. you find the same plots and signes: barrels with childs that was thrown into the sea, unacceptable today aggression, stealing and thieving, speaking animals, and even evil monarchs, themes of freedom, bravery, mockery to win over evil, dragons (that are symbols for armies some horde's tribes, mostly), and those all goes deeper into ancient greek mythology and dramas (yes, in time some plots twisted and added specific elements, but basic is the same as in Gilgamesh [Vol'ga?] and Inanna [Ivanna?] stories). Propp said that real oral folklore stories are not for the modern children, since 20th c. we have totally different moral and norms than 1000+ years ago, but we still able to understand fairytales of many countries and to figure out theirs lessons in spite of their culture or religion.

[@denniszaychik8625]

Funny thing about Sadko was that it was presented in America as Sindbad. 😂 Im not joking this was a real thing.

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Может Роджер Корман украл своетский фильм "Садко" и переозвучил его в Синдбада. Читал я что Корман и Коппола в молодости занимались таким. Украли советский фильм "Планета бурь" и переделали его в "Планета доисторических женщин".

[@camradrip3730]

@@user-nm1gj4qn6w Такое бывает когда плюешь на авторское право. Цап царап и все такое.

[@cool.ebiaka]

риили? а церкви в кадре выдавались за мечети?

[@Homyak555]

@@user-nm1gj4qn6w Планету Бурь наверно в десяток разных фильмов переделали.

[@denniszaychik8625]

@@cool.ebiaka Так Американцы по большей части безграмотные касательно других народов. Им что православный храм что мечеть, все едино.

[@thedreamscripter4002]

I really suggest anyone, who likes epic fantasy, to watch Ruslan and Ludmila. It has so many events and adventures packed in the film - with giants, wood spirits, magic battles, sword battles, surreal magic palaces, lots of charismatic characters and many others. And music is just magnificent

[@EgusSit]

There is even a strong and kind twin brother, a warrior, and a weak and evil twin, a wizard. Hey, wait a minute! Raistlin and Caramon Majere?!😆

[@khito111]

Читайте Пушкина

[@dimonkuklin]

More Soviet fantasy movies which weren't mentioned in the video but are still popular in Russia and regularly get shown on TV: - Cinderella (1947) dir. Nadezhda Kosheverova & Mikhail Shapiro - Old Khottabych (1956) dir. Gennadi Kazansky - Tale About the Lost Time (1964) dir. Aleksandr Ptushko - Aladdin's Magic Lamp (1967) dir. Boris Rytsarev - The Snow Maiden (1968) dir. Pavel Kadochnikov - An Old, Old Tale (1968) dir. Nadezhda Kosheverova - The Twelve Months (1972) dir. Anatoliy Granik - New Year Adventures of Masha and Vitya (1975) dir. Igor Usov & Gennadi Kazansky - The Adventures of Buratino (1975) dir. Leonid Nechayev - About the Little Red Riding Hood (1977) dir. Leonid Nechayev - The Donkey's Hide (1982) dir. Nadezhda Kosheverova - After the Rain, on Thursday (1985) dir. Mikhail Yuzovskiy

[@jumping_toad]

Me: know these films by heart since childhood. Also me: watching the beginner's guide. (excellent video essay!! It’s interesting to see the history of this genre from the beginning. And your immersion in a foreign culture is impressive)

[@kubricklynch]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@barbarian-furu]

same!

[@googleN-qn8wi]

У , нас были замечательные сказки , мы детьми с нетерпением ждали , каждую неделю , детскую передачу "в Гостьях у сказки"!!!!!!

[@trafalgardwaterlaw9222]

Когда я был ещё маленьким все эти фильмы радовали глаз. Потом повзрослев я пересмотрел все эти сказки. И был крайне удивлён. Даже сейчас они актуальны. Как и СССР мультфильмы. Жаль что на западе не знали о них. Они всё просрали. Начиная с того что они нас не знают(и нашу культуру) заканчивая пропагандой и налаживанием отношений.

[@Vasily_dont_be_silly]

12:35 The bird with a woman's head is called a Sirin Bird, it's a traditional mystical Russian folk creature, borrowed from the siren of the Greek mythology

[@7985]

Em... Alas, no.

[@user-wx3df5vu7e]

Такие птицы на Руси называли Алконост

[@susipusy]

@@user-wx3df5vu7e Я где-то читала, что женоголовых птиц было 2 вида. Один вид общела что-то позитивное, а другой нес беду.

[@user-eg1kz9og7s]

@@susipusy Алконост, Сирин, Гамаюн

[@mranderson9318]

Ещё Алконост есть

[@andreiyusov9613]

You should add "the magic lamp of Aladdin" and 1947 Cinderella to your list. Both are fantastic, with lots of wit and grace.

[@Miraihi]

12:35 The bird with woman's head is the mythical creature called Alkonost or Sirin. Alkonost sings the songs of joy, and Sirin sings the songs of sorrow. There is a famous illustration of them both by Viktor Vasnetsov.

[@EgusSit]

Gamayun: - Nobody remembers about me!😭

[@fcuk_x]

@@EgusSit ☠☠🤣

[@Miraihi]

@@EgusSit True, I didn't know about Gamayun. It seems like she comes from Iranian mythology.

[@mariarossa13]

@@Miraihi depends on the variant of the fairy-tale. I was crazy about the folklore, read all possible stories as a kid. For me, it was natural that a Slavic bogatyr is helped by Roc the bird... which is not typical for more northern variants of the same story since it's a part of Iranian / Arabic myths. But some of my most favourite stories were created on the crossroads of cultures

[@8Todote8]

вообще мимо. Алконост - радость, Гамаюн - печаль. Сирин - СОЛНЦЕ.

[@thegroove2000]

I never knew how good Soviet cinema was. Thanks.

[@warcheef]

Thank you for shining light on the world of Soviet fantasy and folklore cinema, which is mostly unknown in the West! A few additions/clarifications: 02:52 - Baba Yaga was Georgy Millyar's most iconic role which he played in many movies, and which as you might have noticed a rather rare at the time case of a man playing a female character (that was surprisingly more common in the USSR for some reason). Millyar was a very talented actor but unfortunately did not have a pretty face (to put it politely). Instead of lamenting that fact, he made it his signature and played the villains in numerous adaptations of Russian folklore, which ironically made him a much-beloved actor of Soviet children - far better known and loved than the main characters of these movies. 11:14 - The reason that the Golden Key is quite different from other adaptations of Pinocchio, is that it is not a direct adaptation of Pinocchio. I know most sources in English state that it is, but that's wrong. The movie is an adaptation of a popular soviet fairy tale called "The Golden Key, or The Adventures of Buratino" by Soviet author Alexei Tolstoy, which is itself a "literary treatment" of Pinocchio; a sort-of adaptation of the fairy tale for a soviet audience with numerous changes. Such literary treatments were not unusual in the Soviet Union; another famous example would be "The Wizard of the Emerald City" by Alexander Volkov - a literary treatment of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". 15:48 - Some of Mark Zakharov's films mentioned here like "An Ordinary Miracle", "To Kill a Dragon" and a movie that wasn't mentioned "The Shadow" are adaptions of plays by the probably most underrated soviet author in existence - Evgeny Schwartz. His works are really hard to categorize as fantasy; they are more of a deeply philosophical political satire that uses the vehicle of fairy tales. If you can only take one thing from my comment, please read a translation of his play "The Dragon" or at least watch Zkharov's movie adaptation "To Kill a Dragon", as it is the most insightful and thought-provoking political satire I have ever read/watched. "The Very Same Munchhausen" and "The House that Swift Built" are also works of philosophical and political satire. "Formula of Love" is also very similar but a bit more down-to-earth, still being very much a satirical comedy but slightly less philosophical. So, I really don't know about categorizing any of those movies as fantasy. Either way, they are all very solid recommendations if you can find a translation, and especially if you know Russian as much of the wordplay, wit, and humor in those movies is very difficult to translate. I'd also like to mention two fairy tale authors whose works were frequently adapted into both live-action and animated features in the Soviet Union since none of those were mentioned in the video. One is the obscure 19th-century German author Wilhelm Hauff who wrote Arabian Nights-inspired fairy tales. Live-action adaptions of his works include "The Legend of the Icy Heart" (1958), "Kalif Storch" (1968), "Little Longnose" (1970), "A Fairy Tale Told at Night" (1981), "The Adventures of Little Muk" (1984) and others. The second author is the Italian Children's author Gianni Rodari, well-liked in the Soviet Union for being a prominent communist with a lot of communist propaganda included in his fairy tales. His two most famous works adapted into live-action are "Chipollino/The Little Onion" (1973) and "The Miracle Voice of Gelsomino" (1978). A very popular animated version of Chipollino was produced as well. For the heck of it, I'll also mention the 1966 movie "The Three Fat Men" which is an adaption of a fairy tale by Yury Olesha. It has some similarities with Chipollino, both being very unsubtle communist propaganda for children yet also fun fairy tales which I have a strange nostalgia for.

[@katlamkatlam1994]

Great references indeed! Отлично сказано!

[@Inshader]

I don't agree that Evgeny Schwartz is an underrated writer. Many of his plays were staged in theaters and screened during the Soviet era.

[@alymlon]

I disagree with the term propaganda - it’s the way we lived, chose to be, in equality and friendship with the people of the world. Communism isn’t propaganda, it’s the way of life!

[@andrejtolotschin613]

​@@alymlon Именно так, и никак иначе!

[@warcheef]

@@alymlon I'm pretty sure that the 18,000,000 people who passed through the Gulag camps (roughly 1,600,000 of whom died there) during the Soviet era did not in fact choose to live (and die) this way. I'm also not sure there was much equality and friendship at the said Gulag camps; The Nazino Island, for example, doesn't strike me as a particularly friendly place, nor does it seem to be an example of a way of life desirable by any sane person.

[@MrPGC137]

The Russian version of "The Snow Queen" was *excellent* in my never-to-be-humble opinion. I thought it was superb, _vastly_ superior to that dumb "Frozen" movie and for years I've wished that Criterion or somebody would do an 'official' restoration of the movie, re-release it on BluRay or 4K or whatever, with a decent translation with subtitles. I would *_LOVE LOVE LOVE_* it if they ever did.

[@Sassyjass2012]

I also loved the Russian animated version, when I saw it in a movie theater around 1960.

[@stepmi]

And the art style of this version Snow Queen kinda influenced anime a lot. Hayao Miyazaki even said that was the catalyst for him to became an animator.

[@MrPGC137]

@@stepmi Yeah, I can see that; the title character alone definitely has an 'Anime' look to her.

[@MrPGC137]

@@Sassyjass2012 I remember watching it on TV a lot when I was a kid. One of my local stations would often show it around the holidays (usually Thanksgiving or whatever.) That & "Alakazam the Great" (or "Saiyuki" to use its original title) were 2 of the more offbeat animated films that I always looked forward to around the holidays.

[@SilhouetteSE]

Fully agree 👍 The Soviet animation brings me to tears every single time. It is so amazingly true to the tone of Andersen's original! So are 'The Brave Tin Soldier' and 'The Little Mermaid,' by the way. Timeless classics.

[@ChuckPalomo]

I loved "To Kill a Dragon", especially the character of the Mayor. He was the perfect sleazy self serving politician.

[@kristynadavidkova9221]

It's funny when you show "Jack Frost" you use the version that airs every Christmas on Czech commercial TV Nova.😅

[@deniskhafizov6827]

and "Mama" aka "Rock'n'roll wolf" is a thing in Norway, somehow

[@shirleymaemattthews4862]

It looks more like Santa Claus than a Jack Frost

[@vinnynj78]

One of the finest episodes of MST3K.

[@Daria_Makarova]

​@@shirleymaemattthews4862Дед Мороз - наш Санта Клаус

[@TheBathrobeWizard]

​@vinnynj78 my first experience with both Mst3k and russian cinema. Glorious

[@user-sd9hx7dt9u]

Благодарим за проделанную работу❤ Очень интересно и для нас, русскоговорящих

[@LongRest]

You also need to know that this is not all of the Soviet fairy tale movies and cartoons, but this is a very good basis for immersing yourself into the genre.

[@evil_trans]

Это очень сюрреалистичный опыт: слушать про советские фильмы на английском. Но видео классное, помогает взглянуть на них свежим взглядом. Все-таки многие у нас видели их с детства и воспринимают как что-то само собой разумеющееая

[@2silkworm]

One of the most important Soviet fantasy movies is "The Story of Voyages" by Alexander Mitta (1983) which features beautiful music of Alfred Schnittke. This movie is really dark and traumatised me as a kid but it's beautiful, nevertheless. The main character is played by ingenious Andrei Mironov.

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Я понимаю ваши впечатления. Этот фильм режисёр явно снимал не как сказку для детей а скорее как философскую драму. А вообще в 80х годах при Горбачёве много снимали мрачного кино которое обыватели прозывали "чернухой".

[@commentonly6053]

​​@@user-nm1gj4qn6w Это ещё не время Горбачёва. Горбачёв генсеком стал в 1985. P.S. Перечитал ваш комментарий. Вы не это имели в виду. Ну, пусть останется информацией для других.

[@DaryaGu]

Мне кажется, он травмировал каждого, кто его посмотрел

[@vadimanreev4585]

"The City of Masters" is a 1965 fairy tale film. "The Tale of Wanderings" is a 1983 fairy tale film. "Don't Leave..." is a 1989 fantasy film. "About Little Red Riding Hood" movie fairy tale 1977

[@meiseo6333]

As a Russian (born in 2000) I watched some of these movies many times as a kid, I particularly loved Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal ❤❤ now I want to rewatch it and many other movies too... To be honest though I've never seen most of these but now I should definitely watch them. These films look amazing! Great video, thank you

[@circulator13]

Oh. Childhoods memories:) These films are called Fairy Tales in Russian btw;)

[@impress_and_empress]

This video is so exciting! And it made me realise that having heard of all of the films mentioned, I've only watched a few. Now feeling so inspired to catch up on them!🤩💖💫

[@VairedaGhost]

Great video! You could’ve also included Konstantin Bromberg’ “Magicians” (1982), which is based on soviet science fantasy novel “Monday begins on Saturday”, but has its own original story. The character are NITWITT (the National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy” employees. It’s a New Year’s story, romantic fantasy musical, and people still love to watch it during winter holidays There are also some famous soviet actors in it, like Alexander Abdulov from “An ordinary miracle” and “To kill a dragon” that you talked about

[@rexharrison6827]

I remember seeing Ruslan and Lyudmila at a film festival around 1973. The giant talking rock was very impressive on the big screen and the whole film was vividly colourful, something not evident in this collection, since a lot of fading seems to have occurred in the ensuing decades. I suspect Russia doesn't make the finances available to provide restoration to its archival works or perhaps just lacks the inclination, which is a shame. That said, Mosfilm (which has a KZbin channel) does have a good selection of historic films that are worth viewing, most of which are subtitled. The 1970s seemed to see better funding for historic, folkloric and fantasy screen tales and consequently there were films of much higher technical quality emerging. I cannot remember the titles of them now, but do remember enjoying a number that received screenings at film festivals throughout the Seventies. All sumptuously coloured and costumed and well acted with superb cinematography. The country has a huge wealth of folklore to draw on and with writers like Gogol, Pushkin, Chekhov, and folklorist Alexandar Afanasyev, and the artistic talents of illustrators such as Ivan Biliban, there is certainly no lack of creative inspiration.

[@marinad7778]

Все фильмы отреставрированы и их крутят по ТВ. На DVD-дисках их теперь не выпускают. Мало у кого вообще остались DVD-проигрыватели. А так - всё отреставрировано. Можно найти эти фильмы на стриминговых сервисах и на ТВ по праздникам.

[@margo7059]

Советские фильмы реставрируют, а некоторые чёрно-белые даже раскрашивают )). Это не проблема. Настоящая проблема была в 90х когда права на советские мультфильмы выкупили западные студии и их было запрещено показывать. Спасло нас тогда то, что всё стало распространяться пиратами. Не удалось англосаксам уничтожить связь поколений и такой богатый пласт русской культуры.

[@TheHalflingLad]

Amazing work, I mean it! You make this no doubt obscure topic make so much more sense to outsiders. I guess another couple of films you could cover in the same breath are the The City of Masters (1965) and Three Fat Men (1966). They're both close in time and message to Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors (1963), and are similarly based on original Soviet writing.

[@susanna3241]

Василиса Прекрасная (1939) оставила самое сильное впечатление еще в детстве. Особенно Баба Яга Милляра. После он играл ее уже более комичным образом, а первая была местами прям жуткая. До сих пор любимая сказка. Очень люблю наш фольклор.

[@Алексей_Кузнецов]

Вообще у Роу Яга с каждым фильмом всё больше молодела. В "Золотых рогах" ещё более комичный получился. А вообще, говоря о пугающих образах, посмотрите "Морозко" годов эдак 30-х, немой чёрно-белый. Или он даже в 20-х был снят. Вот это вообще ужастик вышел

[@susanna3241]

@@Алексей_Кузнецов , даже не знала, что ещё один "Морозко" был. Поищу. Благодарю за информацию!

[@Cassedy3]

There was a very interesting fairy tale movie from 1988 called "Раз-два, горе не беда". It stands out by combining fantasy, magic elements with steampunk technology. So you have magic carpets versus giant robots.

[@Supernovaex]

Snow queen was quite scary to me as a kid 😂

[@lucymiau5700]

A lot of these older and especially for kids made Fairy tale Movies were widespread all over the "behind the iron courtain" countries in the past. And in Germany at least, some of these Movies are shown on a regular basis. The Dragon with the 3 heads is named Gorinych which is a legendary floklore figure like the Baba Yaga and the never dying Skeleton dude.

[@Daria_Makarova]

Змей Горыныч, баба Яга, Кощей Бессмертный

[@AikisDominator]

In my head canon Gorynich is related to King Gidorah.

[@nightyonetwothree]

@@AikisDominator Gidorah is literally japanese proounciation of latin Hydra :D

[@pupoctus]

Thank you so much for this, beautifully done!

[@alphanum001]

8:35 I saw this show on TV at least twice back when I was a kid. I never got to see it from the beginning, so I never knew what the title was, but at least it was dubbed in English. I distinctly remember the child-swapping, because of the twist in the end. Also the two bears ferrying a boat. Thank you so much for showing this video. It's been decades since I saw this film.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

Great video. The golden key was based on a book of the same name, and had an animated movie as well as another live action adaptation in the 70s which had a lot of singing and was by far the most popular of all. Despite being a retelling of Pinocchio, thematically its practically the opposite of it as Buratino's rebellious attitude and dislike of authority is what saves his father and wins him friends, which was in line with soviet writers agenda, as they saw treatment of kids as incomplete adults as bourgeois, and sought to celebrate childhood and portray kids as heroes.

[@user-cq3pb6es9h]

Hobbit adaptation is not even a movie in a full sense. It's one issue of a weekly TV show for children. I liked this show a lot when was a child. Its point was not a cinematography, but theatrical presentation of the story.

[@struqqles]

I watched Viy for the first time just a couple months ago and it became one of my all time favorite fairy tale/folk horror films. The combination of photography and music is beautiful and so cozy at times! It also has some interesting effects and many memorable scenes (that first encounter with the pannochka is my absolute favorite) Gotta find the other ones in this list now!

[@marcl2213]

Thanks very much for this video that brings back memories! In the 70s a few of the films of Aleksandr Rou were shown on tv in Canada (originally they were dubbed in french for France’s audiences). Ten years ago I was able to find on dvd some of those films. It’s interesting to note that they had multi language options. For Aleksandr Ptushko I only saw the film from 1966 (Skazka o tsare Saltane). All those movies have a value if you like Russian folklore.

[@thatwasntacatnip]

POV: You are very familiar with the subject but came here to take a look from the foreigner's perspective.

[@DemonetisedZone]

If you are into Sci fi you have got to read some Soviet Sci Fi. KZbin has an Audio book version of Roadside Picnic which is an absolute masterpiece 👍

[@ThreeFacedLiar]

I often reread a sci-fi written by Sergei Snegov, called "People as Gods"(direct translation from russian). A bit idealistic and naive, but I so, so much enjoyed reading it. It's pretty much on par with american sci-fi authors in my mind.

[@DenisTrebushnikov]

@@ThreeFacedLiar Yeah, I love "Люди как Боги" by S. Snegov too. That's a real diamond!

[@user-in1ht2ik3j]

Прекрасные детские фильмы ,каждую неделю любила смотреть, с друзьями , в кинотеатре , а перед сказкой ,обычно показывали юмористический журнал,, Ералаш,, Самые теплые и прекрасные воспоминания о своей родине СССР сохраню в душе, до последнего вздоха, для детей это был рай на Земле.

[@shimakuso8304]

Hayao Miyazaki was inspired by Snow Queen

[@falconeshield]

20:22 I used to love the animated Snow White series. It was my first introduction to Gerda's journey to save her ice pricked love. A pity too many now love Frozen more. I don't mind Frozen, but too many don't know the original tale.

[@aidenbuck4765]

I was watching this on my tv and my cat started to watch the tv as well. This channel is cat approved.

[@-Alexey-]

Thanks for correct stress in Yaga's name

[@Replicaate]

Oddly enough, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 introduced me to some of these films via their riffing and inspired me to find the originals to watch on my own time. Sampo ("The Day the earth Froze"), Morozko ("Jack Frost"), Sadko ("The Voyage of Sindbad"), and Ilya Muromets ("The Sword and the Dragon"), all got made fun of mostly cos of the usually terrible dubbing and badly translated titles and names of the english language versions, ad the surreal (but sometimes pretty impressive for the time and place) vfx, unfamiliar fairytale logic and fantastical sets. However, the creators say that these are some of their favorite films they've seen unironically because they're so strange and beautiful, and at the end of the day who doesn't love a fairytale?

[@Pehmokettu]

It is sad that Sampo is based of the Finnish folklore legend Kalevala but we Finnish people have not made a Kalevala movie. Sampo was controversial movie because it was Russian film about Finnish folklore. I wish one day the most talented film makers from Finland would create a Sampo movie.

[@katlamkatlam1994]

You'll better learn basics of russian language and slavic culture. Then you can get kinda deeper into soviet movies and animation.

[@katlamkatlam1994]

@@Pehmokettu Pray they wouldn't put too much "diversity" into that. You'll better stick with soviet version then 😀

[@twostpr41]

Thank you for this! I only know the movies from MST3k...so I guess the algorithm is kinda working for once. It's so great to learn more about these films not just as a joke. You have a new subscriber from me.

[@sekarmaltum1695]

am from parts of former east germany. used to watch some of these old movies as a child.

[@BenjaminSteber]

It's strange that rotoscoping, which is as close as hand-drawn animation can come to realism is used in the snow queen to depict surrealism. It probably is due to the uncanny valley effect, where something that has an unreal composure is made to look as realistic as possible.

[@sem7371]

Kin-Dza-Dza (Кин-дза-дза) very cool Soviet isekai

[@evilbabai7083]

It's technically a sci-fi though, therefore doesn't belong here

[@KatyaOrlova-jp1gy]

I watched a lot of films you are talking about as a kid but I never ever heard about Soviet Tolkien adaptations 😮 That's something to explore further!

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Ты наверно и не слышал об украинской адаптации Толкиена в фильме «Кольца Всевластья» (на Украине шёл под названием «Сьомий перстень чаклунки») 1998 г.

[@fieryapple7020]

​@@user-nm1gj4qn6w ukranian movies are trash tho

[@bigsister9354]

One of the Soviet films even inspired famous Jeorge Lucas. This film called «Nebula Andromeda» (Туманность Андромеды). The name of the antagonist in this film was Dar Veter.

[@kubricklynch]

Yup, I talked about that in my video on Soviet sci-fi!

[@juliap.5375]

This is non truth. Darth Vader arrived from words Dark, Death and Invader.

[@AlexiosLair]

@@juliap.5375 why do you think that soviet movie did not inherit the same meaning?

[@steelbear2063]

@@juliap.5375 So? How it makes Dar Veter not a reference?

[@SR-mn3wm]

​@@AlexiosLair well, "Dar Veter" in decomposition can give us article 'Dar', similar to 'Der' in german. 'Veter' = Wind in russian. In post ww2 period german words often used as evil portreting. Just another point of view

[@zzasserzz]

This looks mad interesting.

[@vermilion7777]

Here in western germany we loved watching soviet fantasy stuff and kids tv in the 80s. So much better than the western stuff.

[@Tam4ik]

One of my favorites is The Story of Voyages(Сказка странствий) from Alexander Mitta - its basically Last of us from the 80s. And another is An Old, Old Tale(Старая, старая сказка), love the music in it and it has pretty sad story for a fairy tale.

[@pfftnuffinpersonalkid1541]

Can you do a guide on Soviet Coming of Age movies, they apparently can get pretty dark/serious.

[@NickAndriadze]

It's insane to think about how the insanely crude and low budget Lord of the Rings adaptations of the Soviet Union are still more enjoyable than the Rings of Power that had *ONE BILLION DOLLARS* poured into it. [Edit 25.07.24] Also, I can't believe that you didn't mention my favourite Soviet animated fantasy film - ''Двенадцать Месяцев'' (1956), ''Twelve Months'' in English. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ep69kJJohbytnrs It's a really amazing fairy tale that reminds me of things like Cinderella and The Snow Queen itself. It's almost feature-length at about 50 minutes, but I think it still counts for this list.

[@Daria_Makarova]

Это было шоу для ТВ, так называемый телеспектакль.

[@hanham963]

Because they were made with love, while DEM RANGZ OF POWAH were made with a bad political/ social message.

[@thecandlemaker1329]

I wish people would stop talking about it. It was a filmed theatrical play that was shown once on one regional channel. I guarantee to you that more foreigners know about it than anyone in the former USSR.

[@SilhouetteSE]

No offense, but both are abysmal

[@margo7059]

Про советскую версию "Властелина колец" ничего не знаю. Про западную знаю то, что она подарила нам переводы Гоблина как новый жанр. Гоблин (Дмитрий Пучков) как-то сказал, что понял после просмотра западного "Властелина колец" что человечество достигло вершин вершин пафоса и глупости и с этим нужно что-то делать. Первую серию я ещё посмотрела с оригинальным переводом (это было мучительно), вторую и третью серию смотрела только в переводе Гоблина ))

[@michaelnoonan352]

Informative and fascinating documentary about movies we don't know a great deal about in the West

[@Cnd2Mn]

Millyar is the national treasure!

[@Shams_Rumi]

As a Russian I appreciate you’re making video about this. I love Zakharovs movie! I’d love to watch some of those from your list

[@mikhailmalakhov9248]

If we mention animation, it's not something you can observe in 5 minutes. There are really tons of great cartoons of fairy tales. And it based on a folklore of many different cultures, and inside ussr, and many eastern fairy tales. And a lot of animation looks really great for it's time

[@trevordickson8617]

I have the soviet fantasy films restored & released by Deaf Crocodile Films & they are all wonderful. If you are not sure about buying them I say go for it without delay. They are inventive & beautiful to look at. Better than a lot of fantasy produced by hollywood.

[@33Donner77]

Thanks for all the detailed information on Soviet Fantasy Cinema. I have the 1957 Snow Queen DVD, and remember a movie where a wind demon blows all the tables and benches out of a banquet hall.

[@warcheef]

That's probably from the Ilya Muromets movie. The character isn't really a wind demon, it's a character called Solovey Razboynik (literal translation: Nightingale the Robber) who is a notorious and dangerous bandit in Russian folklore and epic poetry. He is a man but he does have some clearly supernatural powers, like controlling the wind with his whistles.

[@user-oi6qv5gx7i]

It's always interesting to know how foreigners see and interpret the movies that I was practically raised on. A very informative video, great job. The only thing I'd like to correct you on is that the patriotism and the mocking of useless rich nobles aren't necessarily a Soviet thing. Yes, these themes align with Soviet ideology, but they already existed in Slavic folklore long before the USSR. I guess we just like to mock the ones in power

[@kubricklynch]

To be clear, I never claimed that these things were inherently Soviet, just that these aspects allowed the genre to be seen as acceptable during the time of Socialist Realism.

[@yungcv1060]

There is also a Soviet version of lord of the rings which is good. I remember watching this fantasy movies with my family, damn i miss old times

[@justacarat2638]

It's funny how as a person who has watched those movies as a kid, I wanted to see those people's comments who have never seen soviet movies, their reaction. But I can only see experts commenting what the maker should've added to the video...

[@googleN-qn8wi]

Мне тоже, интересно, что думают ?!!!!!!

[@consonaadversapars]

Love these movies. They're so evocative.

[@uspenskiy]

Zolushka (1947) by Nadezhda Kosheverova and Mikhail Shapiro is my favorite 😍

[@Sergio_752]

Damn, all my childhood memories came back, maybe i need to rewatch some of them, thanks man

[@robertadler4354]

Could you make a video analysis on the movies/films and TV series/shows by Václav Vorlíček? I loved "Arabela" (1979) and lots of his other works and it seems so underrated and unknown still in english areas.

[@beth12svist]

Oh, good idea! Jak se budí princezny (1978) is a great take on Sleeping Beauty, Princ a Večernice (1979) is a great take on a Czech fairytale that has always been one of my favourites and may not be known elsewhere... and of course Cinderella 1973 is ICONIC. 🙂

[@AtNovember]

Wow! It is so awesome to listen about movies of my childhood but on English ❤❤❤ thank you 🙏

[@assaf_jerry]

I love your channel so much, I always get new stuff to watch

[@barrymoore4470]

Fascinating introduction to a heritage too little known among Anglophone audiences. Most of the titles and directors cited here were new to me, and I'm impressed by how many fantasy films were produced in the Soviet Union, given the strictures of Socialist Realism that governed the arts there for so long. Even with their ideological agendas, these films come across as some of the most directly appealing productions from the era, colorful fantasy and even folklore often transcending cultural barriers. The one Soviet fantasy film I've actually seen from beginning to end (via KZbin), was a 1947 version of Cinderella ('Zolushka'), directed by Nadezhda Kosheverova and Mikhail Shapiro to a script by Yevginiy Shvarts, and it's remarkable how even in the depths of Stalinism, such a bright and delightful creative vision could have been brought to Soviet screens. This is clearly an area that looks very rewarding for future exploration.

[@mr_Bedrovich]

You can't imagine how pleasant these words. Thank you so much:)

[@katlamkatlam1994]

Man oh man, you, as most of your western colleagues, have zero knowledge about so called "soviet realism" and all the stuff. You were preconditioned your whole life and still think you know about soviets more than soviets themselves. Don't you ever tried to overcome narratives and educate yourself independently? Have you ever tried to learn the very basics of russian language and their culture?

[@annasolovyeva1013]

They're mostly fairytales with morals used to teach growing up generations morals and culture. Their primary target audience is kids at the age of about 7-14 years. The USSR produced lot of high quality professional made culture especially for kids as a target audience. If it wasn't for planned economy, we would never see anything close made not for "family use", but for primarily, kids. Stalin actually called extreme realists who denied the importance of fairytale idiots and promoted the use of folk culture a lot. You see folk culture of different soviet republics in films and even more in cartoons, also as decorative elements in fashion or architecture. Stalin also preferred things traditional, decorated and festive, not plain, his aesthetics are definitely compatible with fairytale/fantasy. I believe that there are actually fairytale/fantasy plots that can be filmed around actual Stalinist architecture, no one would notice anything wrong. The main principles of social realism is comprehensibility of the things depicted to an average Joe and socialist commentary on social problems and morals. Fantasy isn't necessarily against them. Think of depicting an evil lich king as your villain. He's obviously evil and overthrowing a tyrant is socialist.

[@beth12svist]

I have no idea what the situation was in USSR, but in Czechoslovakia the combination of "fairy tales are for teaching children about good conduct" and the inherent fantasy and the good conduct inevitably being far broader and universal often made fairy tales a great refuge for creators, in terms of greater creative freedom. The most visited Czech film ever (and an absolute Czech classic) is Pyšná princezna (The Proud Princess), a fairy tale from the 1950s, when the rest of cinematography was very strictly dictated by socialist realism. A bunch of others from that era are equally great classics, and really high quality productions that clearly everyone involved poured their hearts into (Princezna se zlatou hvězdou, Byl jednou jeden král; even Císařův pekař/Pekařův císař, though that's technically a historical fantasy and not a fairy tale... a professional historical costumer friend of mine was really impressed by the costumes in that one and that's a lot to say about a historical film from the 50s 😁).

[@thedreamscripter4002]

The thing is, the strictness of Social Realism is heavily exaggerated in stereotypes and modern images - in reality in was much more akin to Hays code in Hollywood, rather than some "all-controlling censoring machine". Plus, film directors could argue with the commision and even come to compromises - for example, famous soviet director Leonid Gaidai often did a feint, when he added some extremely controversial episodes to the film, not planning to save them and adding them only to compromise with Goskino (ministry of cinematography) that he will delete those very controversial ones, but would keep less controversial (which he wanted to keep in the first place)

[@juliap.5375]

In Soviet Encyclopedia of WW2, it started in 1935, while USSR joined in 1936, in Spain. In 1939 China already lost millions, USSR twice defeat Japan, Finland, etc., a lot of events. 1939 - it is when British Empire joined to it.

[@DVXDemetrivs]

Oh, that's a good video. But it's a pity that you missed the great movie "A Tale of Wanderings\Skazka stranstviy" 1983 About a girl who tries to save her brother who feels gold from bandits

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Этот фильм не относится к сказкам а скорее авторское кино.

[@DVXDemetrivs]

@@user-nm1gj4qn6w ну да...сказка не может быть авторским кино?

[@naly202]

All these movies look beautiful.

[@DMingThoughts]

Great video! I remember watching "Golden Horns" on the cassette in my childhood days. Just few months ago suddenly felt the urge to find it in the Internet and watch again. Good times...

[@NuclearCHE]

Strange to see no metion of urban fantasy movies like Старик Хоттабыч or Чародеи.

[@marda0maranwe]

I want to add " The tale of wandering" 1983 . It has fantasy elements as well. A boy who can sense gold , a huge dragon that slept for so long that villages appeared on his back , a personification of plague and scientist who invented first wings.

[@Arlong90]

Я не фанат Индийского кинематографа, но начал догадываться, почему у нас он вызывал интерес, танцы и песни. Вроде близки по духу но экзотичные в исполнении.

[@evilbabai7083]

Так, в общем-то, они и подцепили эту фишку из советского кино, настолько она им зашла) Это как пельмени - вроде не исконно русское блюдо, но доведено до совершенства и стало национальным достоянием)

[@Silvexsun]

Only here thanks to those Mystery Science Theater 300 episodes that riffed some of these films like "Jack Frost", The Day the Earth Froze and "The Sword and the Dragon". Great to learn the history of these amazing fantasy films.

[@Gosudar]

Morozko has been very popular in Czechia, probably the only Soviet film to be actually embraced and enjoyed by Czechs, even after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968, most likely at least in part thanks to the excellent Czech dubbing.

[@mubasweerkm]

I want a video about soviet horror films.

[@DVXDemetrivs]

There were almost none. The most famous films that I know are the closest to the concept of horror in the USSR this is "viy" 1967. briefly, a student of the theological seminary is forced to sing a funeral service for 3 days by a witch who was killed and who is trying to take revenge on him in the process. Another film is "dogs" 1989. briefly, a film in the genre is also a post-apocalypse. People are fighting man-eating dogs in conditions that are more like Western movies near the drying sea

[@Jaykilljoy-tt9tt]

Savage Hunt of King Stakh is one I've seen. I liked it more then Viy, Viy was too comedic. Savage hunt is a serious soviet horror film.

[@katlamkatlam1994]

"Господин оформитель" or "Mister Decorator" 1988 is a good example of mystic horror movies.

[@user-nm1gj4qn6w]

Советских фильмов ужасов совсем мало. Но я тебе могу посоветовать некоторые. К примеру "Господин оформитель" , "Слеза князя тьмы", "Голова профессора Доуля", "День гнева".

[@Drugpa4ever]

Thank you very much for The Hobbit! As a child, I was told that it was filmed, but it was hard to believe!

[@Jumpoable]

Amazing! Thank you for this! Just what I wanted after watching Sadko!!!!!! Bless you & your fantastic work.