Jack Frost (1964 film)

Jack Frost
English-language theatrical one-sheet
Directed byAlexander Rou
Written byNikolai Erdman
Mikhail Volpin
Based onMorozko
StarringAlexander Khvylya
Natalya Sedykh
Eduard Izotov
Inna Churikova
Pavel Pavlenko
Vera Altayskaya
Georgy Millyar
Narrated byDorothy Brown Green (US version)
CinematographyDmitri Surensky
Music byNikolai Budashkin
Production
company
Distributed byGorky Film Studios (USSR)
Embassy Pictures (USA)
Release date
1964
Running time
84 minutes
CountrySoviet Union
LanguageRussian

Jack Frost (Russian: Морозко, Morozko) is a 1964 Soviet romantic fantasy film made by Gorky Film Studio. It was based on a traditional Russian fairy tale Morozko. It was directed by Alexander Rou, and starred Eduard Izotov as Ivan, Natalya Sedykh as Nastenka, and Alexander Khvylya as Father Frost. The script was written by Nikolai Erdman. The soundtrack was composed by Nikolai Budashkin, who was inspired by the works of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. A version with an English dub was released in 1966 in the U.S. and was the one also spoofed on the cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was also spoofed by the Rifftrax.com site in 2021.

At the end of 2010, Russia 1 remade the film into a musical, very different from the 1964 film, starring Nikolai Baskov.

Plot

Nastia is despised by her stepmother, who favors her own mean-spirited daughter, Marfushka. Nastia's father is powerless to stop his wife. Nastia's stepmother gives her many household chores. Meanwhile, Ivan finishes his chores and heads out into the woods after receiving words of guidance from his mother, such as not forgetting his mother, not harming the weak, and honoring those who are old. Ivan off-handedly replies "Don't worry" repeatedly.

While traveling in the woods, Ivan is accosted by a group of bandits. He distracts them and tosses their wooden clubs so high that he claims they will not fall until winter. Later, Ivan meets the Father Mushroom, who offers Ivan a prize to try and catch him. Being able to turn invisible, Father Mushroom soon wins and offers Ivan the prize anyway—a fine bow and quiver of arrows. However, when asked to bow before him in gratitude, Ivan declares, "The bear may bow before you, but not Ivan" and leaves. Father Mushroom remarks that the bear will indeed bow before him, but it would be Ivan's back that would bend.

Ivan comes across Nastia in the woods, ordered to pour water on a stump to make flowers grow in it. Taken by her beauty, he asks her to marry him, citing his many accomplishments. She demurs, noting that he is too much of a braggart. Eager to prove his worth, he attempts to shoot a mother bear with her cubs. Father Mushroom watches nearby, and changes Ivan's head into a bear. Ivan accuses Nastia of being a witch and runs off, leaving her to weep alone by the stump, her tears causing flowers to grow from it.

Ivan comes across Father Mushroom again, who scolds Ivan over his selfish nature. Thinking that all he must do to change back is a good deed, Ivan seeks out people, demanding to know how he can help them; having a bear's head only terrifies them. He comes across an old woman carrying sticks to her home and offers to carry her, despite the distance being over many mountains. Arriving at her home, the woman thanks Ivan, noting how handsome he must be; though Ivan notes he is still a bear and thinks she is mocking him, she explains that she is blind. Returning to the woods, Ivan comes across the old woman's walking stick and vows to return it, with no thought of whether or not doing so will benefit him. Nearby, Father Mushroom is pleased at Ivan's selflessness and restores him to human form.

Illustration by Ivan Bilibin.

Meanwhile, Nastia's stepmother tries to marry off Marfushka. She dresses Marfushka in fine clothes while putting mud on Nastia's face to make her ugly. A wealthy suitor comes and asks Marfushka, who has never done a day's work, to prepare a meal for him. While chasing geese into a pond, Marfushka nearly drowns until she is rescued by Nastia. Marfushka's braid and makeup wash away and Nastia's beauty is revealed. The suitor chooses Nastia for a bride instead. The stepmother orders her husband to leave Nastia in the woods. On the way, the father decides he has had enough of his wife's bullying and vows to bring Nastia back home. Believing her stepmother will be even crueler to him for doing so, Nastia jumps off the back of his sleigh. There, she comes across Father Frost bringing winter to the woods. Touched by her kindness, he rescues her from freezing and brings her to his home.

Ivan comes across Baba Yaga, whom he pleads for aid to find Nastia. She refuses to help, and after a battle of wills with her moving house, she animates a group of trees to kill Ivan. After nearly being cooked alive, Ivan tricks her and threatens to bake the witch in her own oven until she tells him how to find Nastia. After he leaves, Baba Yaga sends her black cat to kill Nastia before Ivan can reach her. The enchanted sled sent by the Baba Yaga to show Ivan the way to Nastia leaves him trapped in a snowbank. While Father Frost is running some errands, the cat tricks Nastia into touching his staff, which freezes her. Ivan arrives to find her frozen and apologizes for his rude behavior, pleading for her to return to life as he kisses her. The power of love trumps the staff's power, and she is restored. Father Frost gives Nastia and Ivan a large dowry of jewels and a horse-driven sleigh for their impending nuptials.

On their way to Ivan's home, he and Nastia are accosted by Baba Yaga and the bandits he encountered earlier. After being overpowered, they are saved when the clubs from earlier fall on the bandits' heads, and they trap the witch in her own giant mortar. They return to the village, where the father welcomes Ivan as his son-in-law but Marfushka eyes their fortune and demands the same. When Marfushka tries to duplicate Nastia's adventure in the snowbound forest, Morozko is so horrified by her rudeness that he sends her back on a pig-driven sleigh, with a box full of crows as a dowry. The stepmother is humiliated in front of the entire village and the father stands up for himself and regains his place as head of the household. Nastia and Ivan have a sumptuous wedding.

Cast

Awards

  • In 1965, the film won the Grand Prize – Lion of San Marco at the 26th Venice International Film Festival in a program of children's and youth films.
  • 1966 - All-Union Film Festival - Prize for the best film in the category for children's films.
  • For the role of Marfushka, the Czech Ambassador Jaroslav Bašta gave Inna Churikova the silver medal of Masaryk.

Legacy

The original Russian version was released on DVD in 2000 by Ruscico under the cover title Morozko. It has nine different subtitle options including English, as well as Russian, English and French audio tracks and special features. It was previously released on VHS by United Home Video under the title Magical Wonderland.

In 1997, the English-dubbed Jack Frost version was featured on the movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 as experiment (episode) #813; it was released on DVD July 13, 2010 as part of the series' Volume XVIII DVD set. In 2021 the movie was again spoofed as "Father Frost" by Rifftrax.com. This episode is also Jim Mallon's last episode as Gypsy.

This fairy tale is still very popular in Central and Eastern Europe. The movie has been shown on Czechoslovak (now Czech and Slovak) TV channels (under name Mrazík in Czech and Mrázik in Slovak) annually around Christmas or New Year's Day since 1965. Some critics preferred the Czech dubbing to the original Russian version. Baba Yaga was dubbed in the Czech Republic by František Filipovský.

The video game Fairy Tale about Father Frost, Ivan and Nastya is heavily inspired by the movie.

In 2009, Neil Cicierega produced "Ivanushka", a demo based on the plot of the film, which would later be adapted into the Spirit Phone track "Touch-Tone Telephone". The original version was eventually released to Neil Cicierega's Patreon in January 2018.

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-09-17 07:12 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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