Mavka: The Forest Song

Mavka: The Forest Song is a 2023 English-language Ukrainian computer-animated fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Oleh Malamuzh and Oleksandra Ruban. Based on the 1918 play The Forest Song by poet Lesya Ukrainka, the film draws inspiration from Ukrainian and Slavic folk mythology. The film premiered in Ukraine on March 2, 2023.
Plot
Many years ago, a sawmill owner trespasses beyond the dark mountain into an enchanted forest in hopes of finding a cure for his ill infant daughter. The guardian of the forest, Lesh, gives him one drop from the Tree of Life, the source of the forest's power. However, the sawmill owner came back with an army of villagers, wanting the power for himself. The ensuing battle ended in chaos and the forest dwellers, at Lesh's request, decided to close off the entrance to the forest.
In the present day, a virtuous nymph named Mavka wakes up in the spring along with the rest of the forest's inhabitants. Mavka’s abundant kindness becomes the subject of criticism by the other nymphs, particularly Ondina, a water nymph. In a nearby village, a young musician named Lukas, driven by the need to cure his uncle Leo of an illness, enters the forest to find the source of life at the suggestion of Kylina, the apparent daughter of the late sawmill owner who wants to use the tree's nourishing power to obtain eternal youth. When the two meet each other, Mavka attempts to scare Lukas away, but once Lukas plays his sopilka, she admires his musical talent. Having a feeling that Lukas isn't evil, Mavka offers to give him a cure for his uncle with Lukas promising to leave after. He also promises to play his music to thank her. Hush, Mavka's forest-dwelling friend, reluctantly agrees to help them. Upon showing him around the forest and spending time together, feelings arise between Mavka and Lukas.
Lesh summons all the inhabitants, with Lukas in disguise, to the Tree of Life. Lesh announces that a new guardian must take his place and during the ritual, the supreme spirits of nature chose Mavka. Ondina voices her objection to this choice. Lukas attempts to speak in Mavka's defense, but upon doing so, Ondina sees through his disguise and he is immediately chased out. Mavka allows Lukas to escape and gives him a drop from the source of life to cure his uncle, but he doesn't have time to play music for her like he promised. Ondina berates her for letting him go and then warns her that he will eventually betray her. When Lukas returns, Kylina is not convinced that he came back empty-handed, so she orders her stylist, Frol, to keep an eye on him.
The following day, noticing that Lukas had dropped his sopilka while escaping, Mavka, along with her kitty-frog companion Swampy, decides to go to the village to return it and also attempt to make peace with the humans, altering her appearance to be human-like. Lukas invites Mavka to come to the village's spring festival, which she accepts. While there, he gifts her with a Vyshyvanka dress as well as a pendant he made with a carved rune symbolizing the four elements of nature. After having fun engaging in folk dance, Lukas attempts to keep his promise to play his music for her. However, once he does so, it accidentally undoes Mavka's disguise, revealing her as a nymph to the village. Seizing the opportunity, Kylina has Lukas locked away in the mansion's basement and incites the villagers against Mavka. Mavka is then saved by Lesh, who later recounts to her the story of what happened years prior, and how he once used the Spark of Rage, a pyrokinetic power that was bestowed to him by the supreme spirit of fire, the One Who Sits in the Rock. That power came at a price, the price being his immense strength. He asserts to her that the relationship between humans and the forest is a never-ending cycle of death and fire.
Kylina attempts to make Lukas mark the location of the source of life on her map. When he refuses, he sees purported evidence that she has Mavka taken captive and agrees to her demands, only to realize that Frol was in disguise as Mavka. Kylina proceeds to drown Lukas in her basement, then rallies the villagers to raid the forest. Mavka tries to reason with Kylina by telling her the story of the sawmill owner and his daughter. However, Kylina reveals that she is not the sawmill owner's daughter, but his wife, who made him lie about having an ill daughter, further revealing that she was the mastermind responsible for the previous battle that happened years ago, in the name of her own self-serving desire of immortality and eternal beauty. Kylina then lies to Mavka by saying that Lukas sold out the Tree of Life's location and left with his reward. A battle commences between the humans and forest dwellers. Mavka, in a state of sadness and regret, summons the One Who Sits in the Rock to bestow her with the Spark of Rage, promising the price of her life. This allows her to drive the villagers out. However, her consciousness and sense of empathy are taken away and this causes the forest's inhabitants to be driven out as well. A deadly firestorm descends on the village.
Hush, along with Swampy and Lukas' dog, Dot, save Lukas from drowning and together they rush to stop Mavka from decimating the village. Realizing that Mavka cannot hear his words, Lukas plays his sopilka, inspiring the villagers and forest dwellers to sing along in an effort to wake Mavka and stop the firestorm. They succeed in doing so, but Makva appears to be near death and Lukas tearfully pleads for her to come back. While Mavka's soul lies in the void, she learns that Lukas never betrayed her. The One Who Sits in the Rock states that he and the supreme spirits made the right choice in choosing her as guardian, for she has bridged the gap between the humans and the forest dwellers, but at the price of her life, she must remain in the void for eternity. Mavka refuses, saying that her heart is now full, causing her to wake. Mavka and Lukas share a kiss affirming their love for one another, while the villagers and the forest inhabitants agree to end their conflict and make peace.
In a post-credits scene, Kylina, after being exiled, finds the Tree of Life and bathes in its power, but is de-aged into a baby as a result.
Voice cast
Ukrainian cast
The voice cast of the Ukrainian dialogue includes:
Natalka Denysenko as Mavka
Kateryna Kukhar choreographs Mavka's movements and facial expressions, while Khrystyna Soloviy performs two of Mavka's songs.
Artem Pyvovarov as Lukas
Olena Kravets as Kylina
Serhiy Prytula as Frol
Oleh Mykhailiuta as Leo, Lukas' uncle
Natalya Sumska as the Healer
DakhaBrakha as a group of village musicians
Mykhailo Khoma as Hush
Julia Sanina as Ondina
Nazar Zadniprovskyi as Lesh
Oleh Skrypka as the One Who Sits in the Rock
Nina Matviienko as the Narrator
Kateryna Osadcha as various women
English cast
Laurie Hymes as Mavka
Eddy Lee as Lukas
Sarah Natochenny as Kylina
Tom Wayland as Frol
Scottie Ray as Leo
Marc Thompson as Hush and Lesh
Nikki Thomas as Ondina
Mike Pollock as the One Who Sits in the Rock
Marca Leigh as the Narrator and the Healer
H.D. Quinn, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld, Christian Sanford, and Sarah Smithton provided additional voice performances.
Production
It was first reported in September 2015 that Film.UA was working on a full-length 3D animated film. The company's press service announced the start of production of a film based on the play The Forest Song by poet Lesya Ukrainka. In March 2017, Film.UA and Animagrad held the first international pitching of Mavka: The Forest Song at Europe's largest animation forum Cartoon Movie, at which Ukraine was represented for the first time.
A teaser trailer of the film was released on July 18, 2017. An official trailer was released on February 1, 2023, which features the song "Language of the Wind" performed by Khrystyna Soloviy and Artem Pyvovarov.
Release
After seven years of production, Mavka: The Forest Song premiered in Ukraine on March 2, 2023 and set box office records in the country with its opening, beating out Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) with 189,048 admissions. In the first week of showings, the film's box office totaled , which became a box office record among domestic Ukrainian releases. For six weekends at the cinema, 1,011,735 tickets were sold for the film, and the domestic box office totaled . For ten weekends at the cinema, 1,144,522 tickets were sold for the film and the domestic box office totaled .
Internationally, the film is being released in a number of markets with more than 80 countries having acquired distribution rights. More than 50 countries and territories have also set release dates. The film was released in France on March 29, 2023, followed by the Netherlands on April 19, Italy on April 20, Portugal on May 4, Germany, Switzerland and Austria on June 8, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on June 14, and Vietnam on June 16.
In the United States, the film is set to be released on DVD and digital download on August 15 by Shout! Factory. In the United Kingdom, the film was released for a limited time on July 28, 2023. Release dates for Canada, Latin America, South Korea, Mongolia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and other countries are expected to be announced at a later time.
See also
The Forest Song
External links
References
2023 computer-animated films
2023 romantic drama films
2023 films
Ukrainian animated films
Ukrainian animated fantasy films
Animated films based on plays
Animated adventure films
Animated films based on Slavic mythology