Andrei Pavlov
Black-and-white cinematography of 1944 brings us a fairy tale about love, friendship, and magic powers.Some negative points of the movie are well justified. For instance, the fire scene is prolonged. It seems to last forever. But if the year of production is taken into account - it fits the historical background all right (deserted and burnt lands of Russia). Another one is, perhaps, simplicity of the effects and stunts. The emotional acting cures it all, though. The energetic scene with balalaika has the energy and magic to enchant the viewer. Then goes the grainy image of the picture, which is well below average quality even in the DVD release. It is not so bad after all - it ads some spooky atmosphere, everything seems to be "not of this world". Finally, the movie introduces one of the scariest creatures of Russian folklore - Kashchey Bessmertnyy (a thin man-like undead that can be killed only by destroying some estranged secret object) and one of the toughest Russian "bogatyrs" (i.e. unnaturally strong men) - Nikita Kozhemjaka. All in all, it is a good family feature with its magic moments. The outlook of the main villain and the chopping down of its head can scare some children away, but the whole story is original enough to spend about 64 minutes concerned in a very good way (for children and adults). It's just a one-hour feature, which is also very good for those who don't like to spend half of the day before a TV-set.On the international level it is 7 out of 10. Thanks for attention.
