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The Films of Russian Fantasy Master Alexandr Ptushko December 28, 2001 - January 1, 2002 photo: the new gulliver Read about our box office sales here.

about the series | film descriptions and times Come join us for a selection of glorious films by the Soviet master of cinematic fantasy, Alexandr Ptushko. Ptushko was a pioneer in special effects as well as a genuine visionary - George Pal, Ray Harryhausen, Terry Gilliam and Steven Spielberg rolled into one. "His fairy-tale makeup creations are roughly 20 years ahead of [their] time," to quote Alan Upchurch. His world of enchantment is a wonder to behold for children and adults as well, and in the past his films have been available to American audiences only in truncated versions. Now you can experience his exquisitely hand-crafted images in brand-new, 35mm prints including THE NEW GULLIVER and what may be his masterpiece, Ruslan I Lyudmila, a delirious combination of The Wizard of Oz, Die Niebelungen and The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. All films will be shown in their original version (you won't see Corman and Coppola's SADKO version The Magic Voyage of Sinbad). This comprehensive retrospective is a presentation of Seagull Films and The American Cinematheque with the support of The Trust of Mutual Understanding, George Gund III.

the stone flower

THE STONE FLOWER / KAMENNY TSVETOK USSR, 1946; 83m Set in the Ural Mountains, Ptushko's dreamlike, visually ravishing fable follows a melancholy young stone-carver (Vladimir Druzhnikov) whose talents attract the attention of the mystical Queen of Copper Hill (Tamara Makarova); she seduces him into visiting her dazzling underground world, where the carver begins sculpting an enormous flower out of shimmering stone. Based on Pavel Bazhov's folktale The Malachite Box, THE STONE FLOWER was Ptushko's first great artistic and popular success, combining a hypnotic, almost religious intensity with images of stunning, supernatural splendor - Paradjanov's Color of Pomegranates meets Bava's Hercules in the Haunted World. Russia's first full-color feature, and winner of the International Prize for Color at the Cannes Film Festival. Fri Dec 28: 4:30 & 8:30; Sun Dec 30: 6 Tue Jan 1: 9 SADKO USSR, 1953; 79m Please Note: SADKO is not subtitled and will be shown with simultaneous translation. An oddly Russian Sinbad, Sadko, seeks to bring happiness to his people - first by trying to give money and goods to the poor, then by seeking out the Blue Bird of Happiness. His voyage takes him to faraway lands, and eventually to India and Egypt. Passing foreign landscapes makes him homesick for Novgorod and Lubava, the girl he left behind. Before he can return he must still the tempestuous ocean waters by paying a tribute to the angry Tsar of the Ocean. Upon his return to Novgorod Sadko announces that there is no happiness greater than that of being at home. The two set pieces that made a mark in film history are the underwater domain of the Tsar of the Ocean and especially the golden temple of the Indian maharajah. A fantastical scene that always burns itself into the viewer's memory is the inner chamber where the Phoenix is kept, a shimmering half-bird, half-woman, trapped inside a maharajah's gem-like palace. Oddly enough, 22-year old Francis Ford Coppola was assigned to recut and dubb Sadko for its American version, which came out as The Magic Voyage of Sinbad. Fri Dec 28: 6:30; Sun Dec 30: 4 & 8 Tue Jan 1: 1 THE NEW GULLIVER / NOVY GULLIVER USSR, 1935; 68m One of the first full-length animated films made anywhere in the world, THE NEW GULLIVER tells the story of Petya (Vladimir Konstantinov), a young Soviet pioneer who falls asleep reading Swift's Gulliver's Travels - and awakens in a surreal Lilliput, updated to include jazz bands, mechanized tractors and (in the best revolutionary spirit) a miniaturized workers' proletariat, who rise up with the help of the giant Petya! Ptushko's first feature as director is an astounding hybrid of stop-motion animation (over 3,000 separate figures were used) and live-action footage. Sat Dec 29: 4; Mon Dec 31: 3:45 & 7

sadko

VIY Konstantin Yershov & Giorgi Kropachyov, USSR, 1967; 78m. Supervising director Alexandr Ptushko On the wish-list of most horror-fantasy fans for years, Viy finally makes its U.S. appearance here! Based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol, Viy tells the story of a bumbling, novice priest (Leonid Kuravlyov) who angers a demonic old hag; to take her revenge, the witch disguises herself as the beautiful corpse of a young woman, whose last wish is to have the priest pray over her for three nights. Once trapped inside the village church, the priest encounters an astoundingly grotesque parade of gargoyles and demons, literally erupting from the walls - and the gorgeous witch herself, whirling around the church in a flying coffin! Sat Dec 29: 5:30; Mon Dec 31: 2, 5:15 & 8:30 RUSLAN I LYUDMILA USSR, 1972; 159m A mad, enchanted combination of The Wizard of Oz, Die Niebelungen and The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, RUSLAN is quite possibly Ptushko's greatest masterpiece, an epic two-part fantasy packed with surreal, grotesque characters - a sorcerous midget with a 50-foot beard, a demonic, hunchbacked witch - and jawdropping set pieces such as the midget's shimmering crystal palace, tormented figures chained inside a cavern, and a decapitated giant's head rising up like a statue on Easter Island. Based on a poem by Pushkin, Ptushko's final film as director follows the epic adventures of Ruslan (Valery Kosints) as he struggles to recover the feisty, resourceful bride (Natalia Petrova) kidnapped on their wedding night by the impish sorcerer Tchernomor. Sat Dec 29: 7:30 about the series | film descriptions and times