Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

tenshi_ippikiookami Crazy child story that seems to mirror (cough, sorry, cough) "Alice in Wonderland" in some aspects, but that also seems to be a critic of the ones on the other side back on that era (the end of the movie says it all, with the woman looking at the camera and sending a very clear message to the viewer), "Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal" is quite the strange movie.The story goes around Olya, who gets home after watching a movie she shouldn't have, loses the flat's key, gets scared because of some boys and ends breaking a plums jar. Just after breaking the jar, she discovers she has a 'mirror' self on the other side of the... mirror (yes, I know...). She crosses and we get Olya and Alyo, who join forces to search for their cats and get entangled with the politics of the mirror world's kingdom, a plot to kill the king, trying to save a boy who is going to be killed because he is making 'straight' instead of 'crooked' mirrors... All in quite the psychedelic world.The story is very simple to follow (even if the developments are quite arbitrary), but it is enjoyable enough, with all the twisted characters, silly adventures, and camp clothes and cheesy dialogue. It is original enough, and the acting and direction accompany the story quite well, making this "Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal" an interesting little curio.

Leofwine_draca As some other reviewers have noted, WORLD OF CROOKED MIRRORS is a delightfully old-fashioned Russian fairy tale put on film. It's a children's fantasy heavily indebted to the likes of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, telling of a young and innocent girl who climbs through a mirror and finds herself transported to a fantastic world that has been corrupted by evil reflections. Most of the film concentrates on having fun with backwards characters and names.The dated nature of this production gives it the quality of an old pantomime and that's not helped by the garish costumes and over-saturated colours of the production. However, at the same time, these things are strengths when it comes to WORLD OF CROOKED MIRRORS. The film has a distinctive and surreal look with some parts that would be more than frightening for a watching child spoon-fed on the safe world of Disney. The special effects are quaint rather than elaborate and lovers of the bizarre will be in their element.

vedma51 People, people! This film is nothing like Alice in Wonderland and forget about "cheap special effects." This is a Soviet film from the 60's after all. The broken jar has nothing to do with special mushrooms. Tarrop is not like criticisms of W; its a tongue-and-cheek criticism of "rotten capitalism". Its pure and abashed sly propaganda aimed at children. But of course, having watched it as a kid growing up in USSR, you get engrossed with the actual fairy-tales aspects of having strong friendships, being honest, etc.. Yes, in Soviet films, they always made girls' dresses short, but in schools you would be kicked out if your dress was shorter than knee-length. Part of that was to project a young naive perfect little Pioneer girls who were completely asexual. But you have to remember that during Soviet times we, youngsters, played outside, by ourselves, past midnight and never even wondered if we would get kidnapped. It was safer for kids there in that respect. Otherwise, it was a straight-forward propaganda tale that also taught kids good moral qualities, without all the super-junky-sugar coat freakiness of Disney cartoons. It is reminiscent of the cartoon "Three Fatsos" where there is also a commentary against imperialist enslavement of people via classism and basically call for unity of proletariats. Or even an Italian story of "Adventures of Chipollino". Again, everyone, it is not alike to Alice in Wonderland (how irritating and presumptuous)! It is a great Soviet classic!

Alya-4 Certain films leave a lasting impression, even though you cannot explain why. This film is dated and the quality of the special effects is questionable. Nonetheless, this movie has a lot of charm. It is actually quite exciting (my little cousins love it) and fun to watch.