>>1

The 1986 film adaptation will probably be more satisfying. What's interesting is that it was made of sand. I'm trying to translate now, but it will probably take a long time.

I think this is quite decent, though it's way less faithful (both outwardly and in spirit) to the original Russian folk tale than the excellent 2013 "Mountain of Gems" version. Though it ultimately has roughly the same moral, it follows the trend that was prevalent in those years of changing children's folk tales to not have bad endings (you also saw it in the US, such as with Ray Harryhausen's stop motion fairy tale adaptations). Whereas the 2013 version psychologically softens the "bad" ending by changing the frame to that of the fox as a good mother telling the cautionary story to her children - but even so, the dough-ball DOES get eaten.

This version is interesting, though, in that the dough-ball is rather more of a "difficult character" who invents his own "drama", while none of the forest animals even care much about him, except for the fox (which is something that this version shares with the otherwise very unorthodox 2006 version).

Recently I had the opportunity to talk with a brother from the Trappiste order, who honor the Mother Mary as their patron saint, so everyone takes the last name Marie. I learned from experience that the liturgists at the monastery themselves do not fully understand the issues of their own beliefs. Of course, we all say to each other that humans do not live by bread, but that does not mean we can completely live without eating.

When I was a child, there was a story by a Soviet writer that was reprinted many times in reference books of Vietnamese students. He said that, on a snowy day, an old beggar asked a boy for alms. But the boy said he had nothing, so the beggar told the boy that he had just given the old man a lot. I believe that very few persons understand this proposition, because they are blinded by the cycle of life, which is like in some of Christ's parables.

At 9:45, we hear the same music as the one used in Ivan Maximov's first film, FRU-89. From Left To Right, which also came out in 1989. I wonder which was first?

>>1
>A film, which was made very simply, but touched me very much.
I feel that way about a lot of Belarusfilm productions of the mid-1990s (though not all of them are made as simply). It seems to have been a very... peaceful, introspective period in their animated cinema.
Others I like: Vladimir Petkevich's "There Lived a Tree (1996), Yelena Petkevich's "Forest Tales" (1997), Aleksandr Vereshchagin's "Happy Birthday (1996, unfortunately not on this site yet because I couldn't find it on Youtube, Vimeo or Dailymotion).

Also, I can't help but wonder if this film inspired Mihail Aldashin's better-known "The Nativity" (1996).

While making the English subtitles, I tried really hard to find a translation for the poem, but ultimately had to do it myself. Likewise for the second story, though that one was easier (but made a little harder because the text mostly isn't the same as its source material).

Not that many of Sasha Chorny's poems have been translated to English; a few others can be found here.

A very feminist film? It was all Adam's fault, and the Snake is actually the good guy. ;)
Totally opposite in temperament to the film submitted by Cynir right before this, Yuletide Stories (also a "religious film directed by a woman", for what it's worth, though one of them loves the faith while the other loves to mock it), which is why I'm going to wait a little 'til the holidays are over to correct the mistake with the language (so it won't show on the front page right next to the other one yet... I don't normally bother, but the contrast just seems a bit too great for this time of year).

As for the film, I probably find such simplistic drawing styles a bit lazy these days, and the basic story to be done a little too often.

I wonder if this is related to the figure of Lilith? (Robert Saakyants' first directorial work dealt with that subject - an interesting if difficult film, though again totally different in temperament to this one)

Adam looking at the underside of the world also reminded me of Mihail Titov's brilliant Yerik (1989), and the very end of Mihail Aldashin's "The Other Side" (1993).

As for films or stories about Baba-Yaga, I've almost tried not to miss them since I was a kid. I even learned that the acting prowess of male star Georgiy Millyar became the model for any Baba-Yaga character appearing on the screen after the 1960s.

In this film, Mariya represents spring, while Baba-Yaga and sometimes Kikimora represents autumn or winter. Danila must go into the magic lake to develop intellectually, personally and strengthen his faith. Life has many pitfalls, but in the end, faith, energy and love will overcome them all.

A film, which was made very simply, but touched me very much. Since 2007 when I entered my university, it has been a long time since I had a family meal. I often eat alone and rarely have friends to talk to. That's why I sympathize so much with the fate of the Holy Child and little Vasya.

Now I am in the middle of translating this film, well, and I suddenly remembered a species of chicken that is quite famous in Vietnam. Indeed, it seems similar to the dragon on the flag of Kazan. This breed of chicken is called as Đông-Tảo Chicken or sometimes Dragon Chicken.

Perhaps a thousand years ago, this was just a normal breed of chicken with a normal size, but through the process of cross-breeding and fattening, they have become the shape they are today. Their bodies are of course better than other chickens, but not special. One thing that makes this chicken valuable is its legs. Their feet are rarely used for eating, but will be soaked in wine to store for many years. This wine can cure joint diseases, colds or nourish persons who have just recovered from illness. In fact, their legs often cost many times more than their bodies. This characteristic is similar to toad meat, which is a special nutrient only for children in Southeast Asia.

I must also add that there is a very interesting history behind this chicken. Đông-Tảo is originally a village with a very small area in the Northern Delta of Vietnam. Previously it was called as Đông-Cảo. "Đông" simply means East, and "Cảo" is jargon for areas reserved for people serving prison sentences. It is similar to the Sibir region. However, the prisoners in Cảo commune were actually nobles, officials or generals who unfortunately committed crimes. The monarchy's purpose in exiling them was twofold : To reclaim the wastelands and at the same time profit from the prisoners' labor. After all, those are all good directions. Therefore, with the accumulated knowledge, such prisoners created not only the Dragon Chicken breed but also many other good customs. But of course, because of the inferiority complex about the name of the settlement, they later deliberately called it as Đông-Tảo, in which, "Tảo" means the light of dawn.

The wisdom of the fox is a very familiar literary motif in Europe for thousands of years, but in Asia where the fox is hardly a common creature, the only corresponding image is the snake. In Aleksandr Nikolayevich Afanasyev's original, the fox even made the lion breaks the wolf's leg. However, that is a fable, but in my opinion, life forces us to have both the cunning of the fox and the ferocity of the wolf to survive.

Now I will tell a famous folk poem from Northern Vietnam, which probably appeared in the XIX-century :

Tò vò mà nuôi con nhện, / If a wasp were to raise a spider,
Đến khi nó lớn, nó quyện nhau đi. / When it be grown up, it would leave.
Tò vò ngồi khóc tỉ ti, / The wasp would sit there weeping,
Nhện ơi, nhện hỡi! Mày đi đằng nào. / O spider, my spider! Whither art thou gone?

In fact, the wasp has the habit of killing the mother spider, then bringing the spider larvae back to raise as its reserve food. However, the meaning of the poem is about the fate of adopted children. In old Vietnamese society, well-off families often adopted many children. They have a life no different from servants, and if they are girls, they will be allowed to marry their master's son. Even in my father's family, there are many men whose their parents have arranged for them to get married since birth. Therefore, there are two very funny facts : Both of bride and groom thought each other as brothers or sisters, the groom even carried the bride all day, because they were both just teenagers ; in addition, because family life was so mixed, incest occurs between father-in-law and daughter-in-law (if the husband was too young and the wife was older), mother-in-law and son-in-law, or this person's siblings and the other person's spouse was ever extremely common. That also makes genealogies only reveal half the truth.

When this poem is turned into a song, it contains another meaning, that is sad but more beautiful. Wasp and spider are like a couple who once had beautiful memories together, but then spider left and left wasp an endless sadness. In the song, the wasp counts the threads of spider silk to blame the spider for his ungratefulness. Finally, the wasp got caught in the spider's web and died. It must be added that the silk thread is a very popular literary and musical image in Vietnam, which represents the feelings of a couple when they are apart. The longer the thread, the fuller the nostalgia. If A develops feelings for B, then it is said that A has fallen into B's net.