At the time of its premiere, it was perhaps the most modern of all Soviet fairy tales. Events take place in a fairy-tale world, but the characters use jet engines, lighters, bombs and even projectors. Sounds suspicious? It was also a failure.
Koschei Immortal made an amazing way in cinema even within the Soviet era. If in early films he appeared before us as an absolute evil or an angry master of the undead, then in the late 1970s he turned into a simple hooligan old man, and in the mid-1980s he became a parody of himself. So it was, for example, in the movie After It Rained on Thursday, but a year later we saw an even weirder and more ridiculous version of Koschei in The Golden Porch. Having lost all his greatness and all his fear, Koschei appears here as the most outspoken loser who spys on the main character and tries to annoy him in every possible way. The main character, whose name is... I’m actually tired of mentioning the name Ivan, but not to be biased, I won’t accuse this film of being banal. So, Ivan, as he should, goes somewhere across thirty lands to save the prisoner and win the sympathy of the local princess, who lives in a dark, very dark castle. And that's a real claim. The whole movie looks like the creators didn’t have the budget for extra light indoors. And if the darkness in the cave is justified in principle, then the castles and the underwater world could be brighter.
However, the main disadvantages of the tape are not in the light. The film "There, on unknown tracks" disappointed that he did not show us the Snake Gorynych. In "Sitting on the Gold Porch..." Gorynych appears fully, but ... this is not the Gorynych that we all know well. I don't want to spoil it, so I'll just say there's no limit to my anger. To turn a mighty dragon into the likeness of ... what is shown here is unheard of audacity. But that's not all. The darkness, absurd Koschei and even Gorynych could be tolerated if the atmosphere of the film felt fabulous, mysterious and – most importantly – kindness, which is always welcome in children’s films. Nothing of the above is felt here, and moreover, the culmination in the final rests on a terrible injustice. After all his adventures, albeit not too heroic, Ivan is humiliated, and the offenders do not get what they deserve. Amazingly, the film makes it look as if nothing should be surprised, as if that’s what viewers should have expected. No, this is not a good outcome.
Of the interesting moments, one can mention an unexpected twist with the princess in the final, but against the background of the indicated shortcomings, one does not particularly want to praise it. Too unserious approach to the script led to a too unsuccessful result.
3 out of 10
There are many fairy tales about three brothers, where one, Ivanushka, is a bit of a fool. But in the end, he gets the princess and the kingdom in addition. But in this film, this theme is played with an unusual side.
It was 1986... 36 years ago, but I think it will appeal to kids and teenagers today. The main thing is to “announce” this picture from an attractive side. At the very beginning, there is fortune-telling on maps, and “love” correspondence with jokes, and open hints of marriage of convenience. And then it becomes even more interesting and "dumb" - there are phones, electric razors (remind me - 1986!), and Kaschei Immortal and does fly on the modern at the time "Gorynych" in a motorcycle helmet. A lot of good humor that still makes you smile.
The actors deserve a special mention - I believed their game. Very charismatic Kaschei, simple-minded good-natured Ivan, resourceful and, in a good sense, cunning Princess Alain, two shalopai brothers – Paul and Peter.
The main drawback of the film is its outright “budget”. No special scenery, extras can be said at all, costumes and other things were not particularly bothered. Also, a small disadvantage is a fairly predictable plot (which, by the way, with spoilers, is told directly in the annotation), but this film does not become less interesting.
I recommend watching if you want something easy, kind, pleasant, funny and moral. The film is a little over an hour long – don’t regret your time.
7 out of 10
A classic fairy tale story: in one kingdom a daughter is issued, and the neighbors have three sons. But, of course, you need to pass tests - in the sky, under the ground and under water.
Boris Krytsarev is the last Soviet storyteller, along with Leonid Nechaev and Mikhail Yuzovsky. On the gold porch ... - his debut on Russian soil - before that were Andersen, 1001 nights and a medieval ballad. And he decided to equally invent the bicycle and to borrow to the best of luck from others. A successful move is the placement of a person (schoolboy) from Soviet life in the magic of a Russian fairy tale. This is what Yuzovsky did in the rather popular film There on unknown tracks. Only there the young hero brought to the fairy tale more or less modern - a bicycle, for example. And the fairy-tale heroes themselves were upgraded only mentally - for example, the tsar's assistants, who showed repeated loyalty.
Knight goes away - excluding the modern hero (this was done by Rowe in the Kingdom of curved mirrors, and the reverse was made by Lazar Lagin in Hottabych), he stuffed the film with metamotifs of almost half of Russian fairy tales and quite modern household appliances and chips - televisions, electric razors, plumbing, film projector, etc. They seemed to bring the fairy tale closer to the viewer, and not make it irrelevant antiquity. Funny that the plane and other equipment to move here did not want to put. But that's how the fairy tale would be erased. And with it would have gone and morality, which even in Soviet reality was not so unambiguous as in the fabulous “hints”. And so — remained in the positive and work, and courage, and honesty, and in the black hole went lies, laziness, cunning. All the latter is elegantly placed by the authors in political expediency - the fraternities of the ingenious Ivan "justly" reproach him for his exploits because they killed the original motive for marriage - power in the kingdom. This is a paradox.
By the way, it is these gamblers, lazy and sugar lovers who remain almost the only antiheroes. Because the classic villains became quite attractive, inheriting the Baba Yaga of George Millar - despite the atrocities, there was definitely something attractive about her. Kashei (the wonderful Viktor Sergachev) is quite pityful and funny, not terrible. Even the definition of it gives - to be ugly. He doesn't even lie about it! And Snake Gorynych is a natural phenomenon and almost needs to be listed in the Red Book. And the sea tsar is charming - a chic dialogue with Katschye resembles a kind thrashing of pensioners on a bench about the "outgoing old guard"...
In a certain scenario, this tale could turn into a dystopia à la Brazil by Terry Gilliam. But, as in the anecdote, she didn’t. You don't have to. Although...
Underlying still there is a lack of evil - wherever you look, then if not kind, then charming character. And as a result, fairy tales – well-established life and a walk in the almost Soviet courtyard (it is interesting that initially the masters languish in the dungeon and can not be found with fire during the day – what is not a satire on the sovdepiya falling apart?). So it turned out instead of fabulous mythology almost consumer. So the above qualities of honesty type are lost in the renovated palace and the cry: “It’s time for dinner!” A sure sign of postmodernity is a game of meanings and fenecks, and the consciousness and value system of intangible dressing go somewhere in the distance.
It is amazing how instantly this beautiful fairy tale is able to return a seemingly irretrievably lost faith in the good, real friends and sincere feelings. The first shots, faces, replicas open the door to the kingdom of childhood, where all troubles recede before courage, imagination and faithful friendship.
Among the characters, whoever you take - a bright, colorful image, whether it is King Fedot in a T-shirt with the inscription "Fedot", the queen, on whose shoulders the whole state is held, the butler with the eternal "What do I need more than everyone?", the dreamy King Amfibrahiy (one name worth!), boyishly determined, but afraid of the dark Alena, spoiled elder princesses and the kind, trouble-free younger Ivan, who, in the opinion of the brothers, "was a fool." And a lover who looks like a bad neighbor, Kaschie? And the crooked Sea King? None can be looked at without a smile and admiration, acting is worthy of the highest praise.
The fairy tale, it seems, tells about the familiar fabulous Trinity Kingdom, but is full of curious signs of time: Gorynych with a jet engine, Mikheich’s homemade, the Sea King’s electric razor, working from an electric ramp, a report from the royal palace ... But all these signs are so skillfully, skillfully, with good love and irony woven into the canvas of a traditional fairy tale that they do not seem alien, do not look grotesquely funny, but refresh the plot, add unexpected turns and pleasantly surprise.
The main storyline seems to tell about contemporaries. Such rude and self-satisfied Pasha and Petek around the pond is a pond, kind and brave Ivanov, of course, less, but the essence of their relationship is captured correctly. And what a wonderful story about the first love, which began with the fact that “the princess at the top of the merry two frogs!”
It is a pity that now there are no such kind films that are needed not only for children, but also for adults - because they help to find a way into the forgotten realm of childhood.
10 out of 10
