Vadim_Makarov Reviews

The Snow Maiden (1952)

Adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov opera

[5/10 · 9 November 2006]

This cartoon is based on the eponymous opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, abridged somewhat for the film. Music from the opera is used through the film and some arias are sung by well-known voices of the time; many of the dialogues in the film, however, are not sung but are spoken in plain voice.

Stylized traditional Russian folk costumes and "terem" style wooden architecture are shown in the scenes of the town.

If you like the opera, it is perhaps worth seeing this film. Otherwise, listening to a recording of the opera (there is, for example, a full recording made at about the same time as the film), or actually going to it, would be a better introduction.

Tayny dvortsovykh perevorotov (2000– )

The best soap opera

[10 September 2003]

This series is one of the best Russian soap operas I've seen, maybe the best one. Yes, the films in the series qualify as soap opera, in my account. They have the quality of the genre and are thus not up to what a good single movie would be (the same applies to Druzhinina's series "Naval Cadets...", in the hindsight).

Still, this is an example on how to make good and perhaps educational soap operas. The series is made on real Russian history, not on thought up plots, and is filmed more or less thoroughly. Kudos to the director for that.