Customer Reviews

Scarlet Sails

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3 star:		(1)
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Scarlet sails is a beautiful and romantic film. It is based on a novella written in the twenties by Alexandr Grin. The film remains faithful to the original story, only changing a few small details. The story begins with a young girl called Assol' growing up poor and lonely in a fishing village. The village children think her strange and won't play with her. One day however she meets an old man who predicts that when she grows up a ship will arrive with scarlet sails and it will have on it a prince who she will love and who will take her away. This unusual tale gets out and leads the villagers to mock Assol' more than ever, but she continues to dream and to hope.

Scarlet sails is a delightful story, happy and wise. It was filmed mainly on the Crimean coast and the scenery looks stunning. The acting is first rate. Anastasiia Vertinskaia as Assol' is both beautiful and touching while the film's hero, Arthur Grey, played by Vasilii Lanovoi is a dashing yet sensitive ship's captain. Both actors would go on to have major careers in the Russian film industry, playing, for example, in War and Peace and Anna Karenina. This film has been well preserved by the Russian Cinema Council, Ruscico, and it deserves a wide audience. Both adults and children should enjoy a DVD which shows that Russian cinema has a great deal more to offer than is sometimes realised.

"Alye Parusa" aka "Scarlet Sails" (1962) which is a screen adaptation of one of the most beautiful romantic, poetic, and charming books ever written "Scarlet Sails" by Alexnader Green) is one of my favorite movies since childhood. It's been many years since I saw "Scarlet Sails" but it still has the same power over me. Watching it again recently, I realized how incredibly beautiful it is, how wonderfully directed by "Walt Disney of the Soviet Union", Alexander Ptushko who had made such masterpieces as "The Stone Flower", "Sadko" (1953), "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", "Ruslan and Ludmila, "The New Gulliver", and many more. The film tells the story of a little girl named Asole, who meets a wizard one day. He tells her that sometime in the future a ship with red sails will arrive -- to take her away to a new, happy life. She holds onto this prediction in spite of taunts and the ridicule of her neighbors...

Ruscico DVD is great. The film's images are fresh and joyful. The DVD includes Russian version with subtitles and dubbed to English and French versions. 16 years old Anastasiya Vertinskaya whom you may remember as Ophelia in Kozintzev's Gamlet plays Asole - it was her first role ever. Vaslily Lanovoy plays Arthur Grey , the young nobleman who dreamed of becoming a sea captain since he was a boy and who made Asole's dream come true by creating a miracle for her, the only miracle she had been waiting for all her life:

"I have come to the person who is waiting only for me. I want only her, perhaps for the precise reason that thanks to her I have been able to understand one simple truth, that so-called miracles are made with one's own hands."

"But there are other miracles: a smile, gladness, forgiveness, and a word which is needed and said in time. To experience them is to possess everything. As for Asole and me, we will remain forever in the glow of scarlet sails created in the depths of a heart that knows what love is..."

Alexander Ptushko is known for his fantasies but this simple romance is his best. It is wonderful and warm and a romance to be treasured. And it is not overproduced. In this cynical age you can do much worse than this outstanding film.

I just want to add two quick things to the other reviews, which are all right on target. The first is that the dvd offers a number of ways to view the movie, in assorted language / subtitle configurations. I found that leaving the Russian dialogue, but with English subtitles, worked best for me. You can listen to it dubbed in English, but I think it detracts from the feel of the film. Second is that the film is 'dated' and foreign, so don't expect a Disney-style experience. This is in fact what I like most about it - it unfolds at a different pace, in a manner that conveys a feeling of story, place and persons that is a true delight. The scenes where the girl dances through the forest, greeting each tree and welcoming the sun ... worth the price of the movie right there. Enjoy !

This movie is just wonderful. The cinematography on it is amazing and way ahead of its time. Loved it.

This review is confined to this particular DVD version. They must shot the movie twice over - one is this at 4:3 and another is 2.35:1 with anamorphic lens. It seems that every frame is different from each other, and overall this version [except for a very few trivial instances] is not as good as the wide screen version. One example, in the final scene with Assol and Grey - Assol's laugh seemed forced and Grey looked to serious while the wide-screen version was far superior. The English dubs were too rough and at times unbearable. In general, a disappointment.

One of my favorite fairytales of all time. Beautiful story from a Russian perspective. The costume choices are quirky but delight me as they have a slight Tim Burton quality.