Alenkiy tsvetochek

Plot synopsis:
Once upon a time there lived a wealthy merchant, who had three beautiful daughters. Once he decided to do business overseas. He called for the daughters and asked what gifts should he bring them. The eldest asked for a golden tiara adorned with precious gems that sparkled brightly, and the second wanted a crystal mirror which always showed the person's reflection as young and beautiful. The merchant knew these would be difficult to obtain, but within his means. The youngest, named Nastenka (a diminutive form of the given name Anastasia), asked for the most beautiful scarlet flower in the world, which she had seen in a dream. The merchant did not know where he could find such a flower, but promised not to disappoint.
Everything went well. The merchant bought all gifts, except for the scarlet flower. He saw many scarlet flowers, but not the most beautiful one. On the way home he was attacked by robbers, fled into the woods and became lost. When he awoke the next morning he saw a splendid palace "in flame, silver and gold". He walked inside, marveling at the splendor, but the palace was seemingly empty. Spread before him was a luxurious feast, and he sat down and ate. When he walked out to the garden he saw the most beautiful scarlet flower, and knew it was the one his daughter desired. Upon picking it, the terrible Beast of the Forest leapt out and confronted the merchant, asking him why he dared pick the scarlet flower, the one joy of the beast's life. The beast demanded that the merchant repay him and forfeit his life. The merchant begged for mercy and to be returned to his daughters. The beast allowed this on the one condition that within the next three days one of his daughters would willingly take her father's place and live with the beast, or the merchant's life would be forfeit. The beast gave the merchant a ring, and the girl that put it on the littlest finger of her right hand would be transported to the palace. Then the beast magically transported the merchant home, with all his wealth and treasures restored.
The merchant explained what happened to his three daughters. The eldest two believed the youngest should go, since it was her present that caused this disaster. The youngest daughter loved her father so, so she willingly went to live with the beast. Nastenka lived luxuriously with the beast, who granted her every desire, fed her delicious food and gave her rich jewels and clothing, yet never revealed himself to her for fear of upsetting her. However Nastenka became fond of the beast and asked to see him. When he finally revealed himself to her, she was overcome with fear but controlled herself, and apologized to the beast for upsetting him. When Nastenka had a dream that her father was ill, the Beast let her visit him. However, he said that she must come back in three days, otherwise he would perish, since his love for her was so great he loved her more than himself, and could not bear to be apart from her.
Nastenka's visit to her father revived his spirits, but her sisters resented the wealth she lived in. They tried to talk her out of returning to the Beast, but Nastenka could not be so cruel to her kind host. The elder sisters put the clocks back and closed the windows, to trick Nastenka. When Nastenka felt that something had been wrong and came back to the Monster's palace, he lay dying near the scarlet flower. Nastenka rushed to his side, took him in her arms, and cried that she loved him more than herself, that he was her true love. All of a sudden thunder boomed, and Nastenka was transported to a golden throne next to a handsome prince. The handsome prince explained that he was the Beast, cursed by a witch who was fighting his father, a mighty king. To break the curse, a maiden had to fall in love with him in his monstrous form. The merchant gave his blessing to the young couple, who lived happily ever after.

Tags: fantasy

Review:
A lovely Soviet take on the Beauty and the Beast story.
The 1952 animated version by Soyuzmultfilm personally is superior, but both do justice to such a great story.
The special effects here are not mind-blowing, sometimes a little crude.
The film is very fairy-tale-like in its detail and atmosphere, it is lovely to look at and the colours are appropriately moody with striking colour tinges.
The music is both ethereal and haunting, while the writing is never too sophisticated or childish, if anything it's gentle with a good sense of mood conveyed.
The story is simple and leisurely and for the better, fairy-tales are better adapted like that in my opinion, contrary to what's been said before there is a sense of mystery and magic here though more convincing in the 1952 animated version.
The ending is very heartfelt.
The acting is noble, generally natural and not too theatrical, while the direction is solid and doesn't allow the storytelling to get too limp.
In conclusion, not quite as good as the 1952 animation but lovely still.
8/10 Bethany Cox. Lovely fairy tale from the USSR.
The Scarlet Flower is a film from the Soviet Union that was based on a Russian fairy tale which was itself reminiscent of 'Beauty and the Beast'.
In it a man goes on a trip and promises to return with gifts for his three daughters, the least materialistic of which asks for a scarlet Flower she saw in a dream.
Her father finds the flower but it is the property of a fearsome forest creature, who gives him it but with conditions attached.A good number of the very best fantasy films based on fairy tales originate from Central and Eastern Europe and The Scarlet Flower is yet another example of this.
It's probably because these stories so often emerged from this part of the world that these cultures often produced film equivalents which understood the source material so much better.
Like other fascinating east European fantasies such as The Singing Ringing Tree (1957) from East Germany or Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) from Czechoslovakia, this one is also another atmospheric and visually beautiful bit of work which combines the enchanting with the dark and macabre.
The forest, the waterfall and the crumbling woodland Gothic house all make for lovely locations; with the unusual characters like the old man, the witch and the beast being interesting fairy tale characters who add a further dimension of mystery and ambiance to proceedings.
The leafy exteriors and interiors possess a dream-like feel, while the colour tints used only accentuate this further.
Overall, I thought this was another example that shows the instinctive feel the East Europeans have for this type of unusual fantastical material..
Limp Russian fairytale.
A film based on a variant of the fable of the beauty and the beast, it never really grips the imagination, with weak use of special effects and lame characterisations.The colour is poor and the sense of being in the depths of the forest, prey to spirits and magic spells, is never really captured..
Stylish, moody, gentle - I enjoyed it.
This film came as extra with yesterday's SuperIllu magazine.
(East German DEFA dub, "Die feuerrote Blume").
I read Hazel's not so positive comment before buying it, and wondered whether I was in for a disappointment.
I wasn't.Although rated for ages 0 and up, I'm not sure whether young children will enjoy this - it's not very action-packed, and the Beauty & the Beast story is presented at a leisurely pace, quite subtly, often lingering on details.Not so subtle is the color editing, where about half the scenes are strongly tinted in yellow, blue, or red - sometimes to a degree that reminded me of colorized b&w films.
But I wasn't let down by that - colors just added to the mood representation in my opinion, and especially the yellowish once were fascinating.
This is a fantasy movie most of all.The music added to the style, too - from Russian folk songs to cembalo pieces.
An interesting mix, and often enjoyable.Directed by a woman, the plot might be summarized most briefly as the struggle of two women (the bitter sorceress and the idealistic girl) for one man: the Beast/prince.
It is a fairy tale after all.
In the end, girl gets boy, and they might even live happily ever after.
But at hardly any time did I find this film childish.
In fact, I'd rate it quite high among the (roughly 10) Soviet "fairy tale" movies I've seen, though each has its strong points.
And finally, thanks to SuperIllu for delivering one old-time socialist movie every first Thursday of the month :^).
Scarlet Diva..
With my 31st birthday coming up on February 9th I started gathering up movies that I've been saving to view.
Recently being in the mood to see a Fantasy film,I found fellow IMDber Red-Barracuda's review of a title from the Soviet Union to be very interesting, which led to me pulling a scarlet flower out of the ground.The plot:Before going to work at the market,a merchant asks his three daughters if there is anything that they want.
Asked to get a golden tiara and a crystal mirror by his first two,the Merchant is taken aback ,when his third daughter asks him to get a scarlet flower she has been dreaming of!
Crossing the sea to work,the merchant is shocked to spot the flower and pulls it out.
Awakening with a scream,a beast appears and tells the merchant that due to him killing the rare flower, he must spend the rest of his life there...View on the film:Weaving the fairy tale in a fittingly swift 65 minutes, director Irina Povolotskaya, cinematographer Aleksandr Antipenko and special effects duo Leonid Akimov & L.
Miatshin conjure up outstanding practical effects,from the glowing,red ruby hue of the scarlet flower,to the lizard-style monster having a lush green appearance, that seamlessly blends into the background like a chameleon.
Pulling the Beauty and the Beast outline into a new direction, Povolotskaya gives the rotting mansion a reflected fading silver appearance,which is neatly balanced by the warm, rustic tracking shots Povolotskaya uses to follow the merchant attempting to fulfill his daughters requests.Adapting Sergey Aksakov's own 1858 interpretation of Beauty and the Beast,the screenplay by Natalya Ryazantseva (a woman writer working with a woman director-a real rarity in the USSR) marvellously keeps the Gothic element of Beauty via the reclusive state of the Beast,but takes the Fantasy in its own direction with a (somewhat) Soviet Union message of the Merchant being a hard-working soul,who is prepared to give up his life in order to keep his daughters happy.
Facing demands from his daughter and the Beast, Lev Durov gives a terrific, worn-down performance as the humble Merchant,whose life is changed when he pulls out the scarlet flower.