I've been busy with some important backend work on the site, so there haven't been any newly added films in recent days. I decided to add this one because I'd already done the translation for it (for the later compilation).

Although I generally really like it, there were two things that always bugged me:
1) Why is the Tsar's palace located in a small town that is clearly not Moscow or St. Petersburg? (I asked Nosyrev this question once, and he replied: "the Tsar from "The Magic Ring" is an aggregated, fairytale figure. Neither St. Petersburg, nor Moscow have any relation to him. The characters and events in the tale are not tied to a concrete place and time, but to a particular historical epoch. The storyteller is free to think up whatever he can imagine in his tale, so long as it is interesting to the listeners (or in this case, the viewers) - that is his primary goal. We're not presenting a historical study, after all, but a joyous spectacle - that's what the folk tale is for.")
2) Why did the snake Scarapeya wait so long to reveal who she was, and why did she stay unhappily in Ivan's house if she could have left at any time? (I still don't know the answer to this one - let me know if anyone has any ideas).

>>1
>Why is the Tsar's palace located in a small town that is clearly not Moscow or St. Petersburg?
Yeah, I felt like they should have been more like local nobles or something, this would have also given the daughter more of a reason to run of to big Paris

>Why did the snake Scarapeya wait so long to reveal who she was, and why did she stay unhappily in Ivan's house if she could have left at any time?
I think Scarapeya waited for the right moment and place to tell Ivan her secret and to get rescued, after all he rode all the way to some remote place, maybe the snake people don't just want to show up in some populated area, but then again she had thet immensely powerful magical ring... I guess she couldn't gift him her ring if she just fled with it.

>>2
>this would have also given the daughter more of a reason to run of to big Paris
I mean, daughters did get exchanged between European noble/royal families, so I wouldn't say it's that far-fetched. And the Russian nobility really did often speak French among themselves for a long while, and held France in high regard.

>I think Scarapeya waited for the right moment and place to tell Ivan her secret and to get rescued, after all he rode all the way to some remote place, maybe the snake people don't just want to show up in some populated area, but then again she had thet immensely powerful magical ring... I guess she couldn't gift him her ring if she just fled with it.
Maybe... but it's still confusing because it's just not explained at all.