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The Tale of Tsar Saltan

Shuji Matsuoka | Tokyo | 03/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is very good DVD for me and my son.
The wife of the prince is very impressive ballerina.
The rendering of the sex between King and Princess was moderate and interesting, so I and my ten years old son both enjoyed this cinema without problem."

An enchanting perspective of a Pushkin fairy tale

11/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This tale of evil plots and misunderstandings could have been told quite seriously. But ironically Ptushko went for whimsy. (Ironically because another tale by Pushkin, Ruslan and Lyudmila, was written tongue-in-cheek and taken seriously enough to become a dramatic opera (Glinka) and an exciting fantasy movie, (Ptushko.) Watching this film is like walking into a picture book illustrated by a legendary artist. Ptushko built a fairytale city for the Tsar and a fairytale island for the castaway son and wife. All the elements of legend are here: evil mother-figure, beautiful maid and ugly sisters; there are trolls - reminiscent of latterday Wild Things. There is a magical swan princess, giant knights rising from the sea, a cute squirrel cracking gold nuts and singing what sounds suspiciously like a tune from Sadko ... But nothing is serious. When the Tsar is unhappy he cries. When he grows angry with the messenger who brought him bad news and yells "Hang him!" you find the poor man dangling from a tree stuck in a drum and sobbing along with the Tsar. Before I bought the movie, I read the reviews as usual and noticed a mention of sex between the Tsar and his bride on their wedding night as being "tasteful." When I previewed the scene, I found the bridal pair sitting happily on the bed playing pat-a-cake! If you are looking for quality fantasy to share with your kids, this is for you and I guarantee it will not gather dust on the shelf!"