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The Scarlet Flower (1952 film)
Encyclopedia
The Scarlet Flower is a 1952 Soviet animated film directed Lev Atamanov. It was produced at the Soyuzmultfilm
studio in Moscow
and is based on the story of the same name
by Sergei Aksakov
. The story is basically a variation of the tale Beauty and the Beast
.
The film is an example of the Socialist Realism period in Russian animation, which was characterized by heavy use of rotoscoping and a focus on adapting traditional Russian folk tales. It was restored at the Gorky Film Studio
in 1987 and is now widely available on several video and DVD editions in Russia. No English-subtitled version has been released.
Before going on an overseas journey, a merchant father asks his three daughters what they would like him to bring back for them. The eldest asks for a shining tiara, the middle asks for a frame through which her face would always appear young, and the youngest (Nastenka) asks her father to bring her a beautiful scarlet flower like one which she saw in her dreams. Her elder sisters laugh at this simple wish.
The father's trip is successful and he finds everything that he came for, with the exception of Nastenka's scarlet flower. Nevertheless, the ship heaves off and they begin to head back while the father scans the lands around him for a scarlet flower.
A storm strikes and the father is washed overboard. He wakes up on a strange island which is full of all sorts of wonders. He explores, and eventually finds a flower just like the one Nastenka described. The instant that he plucks it, however, a great storm comes upon him and the owner of the island - a hideous monster - makes his presence known. He tells the father that he will let him keep the flower, but in return he must send one of his daughters to live with him. The father refuses, and the monster gives him a ring, telling him that whoever puts it on will be teleported back to the island, and that if his daughter doesn't come then he himself must come and be killed.
In the morning, the crewmembers of the father's ship (who had been searching for him) see him on the island and rescue him. Back home, the father prepares to put on the ring and meet his fate. However, Nastenka overhears a conversation where he reveals this to his friend and secretly puts on the ring herself.
There, she expects to be killed but instead finds herself on a beautiful island and welcomed for by a kind, unseen host. She accidentally catches a glimpse of him eventually, and is mortally scared at first. He allows her to go home to visit her family, but tells her that she must come back by putting on the ring by 8pm or he will die of loneliness.
Nastenka comes home dressed in splendid clothes and with presents for her sisters. Her sisters, however, become jealous and secretly turn all of the clocks in the house back two hours. Nastenka looks outside and hears the clock chiming 9pm, and quickly goes back, only to find the monster near death. She is very saddened and vows to never leave him again, and with those words the scarlet flower which she holds reattaches itself to its original stem and the island fills with light again. The monster turns into a handsome prince and explains that he was under the spell of a witch from which he could only be freed from if he won over the heart of a lady while being in the body of a hideous monster.
Soyuzmultfilm
Soyuzmultfilm is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Over the years it has gained international attention and respect, garnering numerous awards both at home and abroad. Noted for a great variety of style, it is regarded as the most influential animation studio of the former Soviet Union...
studio in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and is based on the story of the same name
The Scarlet Flower
The Scarlet Flower , also known as The Little Scarlet Flower or The Little Red Flower, is a Russian folk tale written by Sergey Aksakov...
by Sergei Aksakov
Sergei Aksakov
Sergey Timofeyevich Aksakov was a 19th-century Russian literary figure remembered for his semi-autobiographical tales of family life, as well as his books on hunting and fishing.- Early life :...
. The story is basically a variation of the tale Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
.
The film is an example of the Socialist Realism period in Russian animation, which was characterized by heavy use of rotoscoping and a focus on adapting traditional Russian folk tales. It was restored at the Gorky Film Studio
Gorky Film Studio
Gorky Film Studio is a film studio in Moscow, Russian Federation. By the end of the Soviet Union, Gorky Film Studio had produced more than 1,000 films...
in 1987 and is now widely available on several video and DVD editions in Russia. No English-subtitled version has been released.
Plot
The father's trip is successful and he finds everything that he came for, with the exception of Nastenka's scarlet flower. Nevertheless, the ship heaves off and they begin to head back while the father scans the lands around him for a scarlet flower.
A storm strikes and the father is washed overboard. He wakes up on a strange island which is full of all sorts of wonders. He explores, and eventually finds a flower just like the one Nastenka described. The instant that he plucks it, however, a great storm comes upon him and the owner of the island - a hideous monster - makes his presence known. He tells the father that he will let him keep the flower, but in return he must send one of his daughters to live with him. The father refuses, and the monster gives him a ring, telling him that whoever puts it on will be teleported back to the island, and that if his daughter doesn't come then he himself must come and be killed.
In the morning, the crewmembers of the father's ship (who had been searching for him) see him on the island and rescue him. Back home, the father prepares to put on the ring and meet his fate. However, Nastenka overhears a conversation where he reveals this to his friend and secretly puts on the ring herself.
There, she expects to be killed but instead finds herself on a beautiful island and welcomed for by a kind, unseen host. She accidentally catches a glimpse of him eventually, and is mortally scared at first. He allows her to go home to visit her family, but tells her that she must come back by putting on the ring by 8pm or he will die of loneliness.
Nastenka comes home dressed in splendid clothes and with presents for her sisters. Her sisters, however, become jealous and secretly turn all of the clocks in the house back two hours. Nastenka looks outside and hears the clock chiming 9pm, and quickly goes back, only to find the monster near death. She is very saddened and vows to never leave him again, and with those words the scarlet flower which she holds reattaches itself to its original stem and the island fills with light again. The monster turns into a handsome prince and explains that he was under the spell of a witch from which he could only be freed from if he won over the heart of a lady while being in the body of a hideous monster.
Creators
| Romanized | Russian | |
|---|---|---|
| Director | Lev Atamanov | Лев Атаманов |
| Director's assistant | Roman Kachanov Roman Abelevich Kachanov Roman Abelevich Kachanov was a Russian animator, one of the founders and leaders of Russian stop-motion animation.Kachanov was the director and screenwriter of the trilogy about Cheburashka, Gena the Crocodile and Shapoklyak.- Early years :... |
Роман Качанов |
| Scenario | Georgiy Grebner | Георгий Гребнер |
| Art Directors | Aleksandr Vinokurov Leonid Shvartsman Leonid Shvartsman Leonid Shvartsman is a Russian animator and artist.He spent most of his creative career at the Soyuzmultfilm Studio, in Moscow, where he served as art director on Cheburashka, 38 Parrots, The Golden Antelope, The Scarlet Flower, The Snow Queen and many other cartoons.-External links:*... |
Александр Винокуров Леонид Шварцман |
| Background Artists | Irina Svetlitsa Konstantin Malyshev G. Nevzorova V. Rodzhero I. Troyanova |
Ирина Светлица К. Малышев Г. Невзорова В. Роджеро И. Троянова |
| Artist for combined scenes | Nikolai Fyodorov Nikolai Fyodorov Nikolay Fyodorov may refer to:*Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov, Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher and futurist*Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Soviet military commander... |
Николай Фёдоров |
| Artists' assistants | P. Sarkisyan I. Brashishkitye |
П. Саркисян И. Брашишките |
| Animators | Gennadiy Filippov Tatyana Fyodorova Roman Kachanov Roman Abelevich Kachanov Roman Abelevich Kachanov was a Russian animator, one of the founders and leaders of Russian stop-motion animation.Kachanov was the director and screenwriter of the trilogy about Cheburashka, Gena the Crocodile and Shapoklyak.- Early years :... Roman Davydov Vadim Dolgikh Boris Chani Fyodor Khitruk Fyodor Khitruk Fyodor Savelyevich Khitruk is one of the most influential animators and animation directors in Russian animation.-Biography:Khitruk was born in Tver, Russian Empire and came to Moscow to study graphic design at the OGIS College for Applied Arts. He graduated in 1936 and started to work with... Boris Meyerovich Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin Boris Dyozhkin |
Геннадий Филиппов Татьяна Фёдорова Роман Качанов Роман Давыдов Вадим Долгих Борис Чани Фёдор Хитрук Борис Меерович Вячеслав Котёночкин Борис Дёжкин |
| In-betweeners | Y. Uludova B. Korneyev I. Bashkova O. Susoyeva |
Е. Улудова Б. Корнеев И. Башкова O. Сусоева |
| Camera Operators | Mikhail Druyan Y. Rizo |
Михаил Друян E. Ризо |
| Composer | Nikolai Budashkin | Николай Будашкин |
| Songs (lyrics) | Y. Shvedova | Я. Шведова |
| Sound Operator | Georgiy Martynyuk | Георгий Мартынюк |
| Technical assistant | V. Shilina | В. Шилина |
| Editor | Lidiya Kyaksht | Лидия Кякшт |
External links
- The Scarlet Flower at the Animator.ruAnimator.ruAnimator.ru is a Russian website chronicling the films, people and studios of the animation industry in Russia, the former Soviet Union and the CIS. It also includes a forum, a news block, a photo-gallery and an animators labour exchange...
(English and Russian)