Cult Cinema: The Tale of Tsar Saltan (1967) - Reviewed

Courtesy of Mosfilm

The God-like fantasy epic cinema of Russian wunderkind Aleksandr Ptushko, a kind of Walt Disney figure by way of Mario Bava or Dario Argento, has remained buried in the United States for years in truncated, heavily re-edited versions misrepresentative of his original artistic intentions.  Thanks to recent efforts undertaken by Vinegar Syndrome sublabel Deaf Crocodile Films in conjunction with a massive ongoing restoration project by Mosfilm, the formerly obscure-in-the-US filmmaker and his extensive oeuvre are slowly being made available in pristine new remasters that all but bring Ptushko’s ornate cinematic fantasylands back to big screen life.

 
With Severin Films and Shudder giving special attention to the Ptushko co-written Soviet horror epic Viy and Deaf Crocodile’s recent 4K re-releases of Ilya Muromets and Sampo, I was hungry for more opulent gargantuan fantasy epics from this very special master-of-film.  While Vinegar Syndrome and Deaf Crocodile are busily securing the rights to more renowned effects-heavy Russian titles, I decided to turn to Mosfilm’s YouTube account for the time being which continues to officially upload studio produced 4K and 2K restorations of Russian films old and new like no tomorrow.  The search led me to one of Ptushko’s later epics which saw the pioneering filmmaker working in Sovscope 70mm with his glittery and kaleidoscopic 1967 fantasy epic The Tale of Tsar Saltan.
 
Based on the epic 1831 poem by Alexander Pushkin and co-adapted by Ptushko and Igor Gelein, the ensemble musical fantasy adventure epic concerns Tsar Saltan (True Friends actor Vladimir Andreyev) whose Queen wife and son Prince Gvidon (Oleg Vidov) are ensnared in a plot to control and overthrow him by way of three evil sisters.  

Sealed in a wooden barrel and set out to sea, the mother and son are beached on a desolate island where Gvidon rescues an enchanted swan who turns out to be a princess.  In return for saving her life, she helps furnish the island into a cityscape where he rules as prince.  Meanwhile, Gvidon with the help of the Swan Princess transforms him into an insect so he can spy and take revenge upon the evil sisters that tried to kill him and his mother.
 
A sprawling, playful, delightful Sovscope 70mm widescreen epic loaded with the director’s trademark eye-popping visual effects, arresting cinematography by eventual Ruslan and Ludmila director of photography Valentin Zakharov with the help of co-writer Igor Gelein and a lush epic score by Gavriil Popov, The Tale of Tsar Saltan from top to bottom is simply glorious to behold.  Boasting stunning set pieces by production designers K. Khodatayev and Aleksandr Kuznetsov, all elegantly staged and photographed, Ptushko’s film is a feast for the senses whose wonders are just oozing off the edges of the 65mm frame. 

 
Performances by the ensemble cast are solid with special attention given to the evil sisters who undergo a variety of vengeances including but not limited to some hilarious bee sting scenes.  There’s also a wonderful moment involving a singing and dancing squirrel that from a purely technical puppeteering point of view is an extraordinary effects-shot.

Still, the film’s real big star is the one behind the camera unleashing all manner of filmmaking wizardry and magic across the silver screen.  Having seen a few films now by this director, it is safe to call him not only one of the greatest Russian filmmakers, but one of the world’s most important yet to be rediscovered fantasy epic film directors, period.  Now, let’s keep our fingers crossed the good folks at Vinegar Syndrome and Deaf Crocodile are listening in!

--Andrew Kotwicki