dandelion
"
So what can you Russians tell us regarding this film? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115412/

Frankly, I'd welcome knowing ANYTHING about the film--for starters, if there is even an accessible site with pictures available. The only thing I've seen is a script, in Russian, (spelled using English characters) and from what I could tell it seemed a pretty literal translation. I know the story so well that if the film followed the book at all I wouldn't be seriously lost even if I didn't understand a word of the language.
"

http://www.dreamtech.ru/Kino/CardView.phtml?id=907

Photos: (left to right)
Innokenti Smoktunovsky (Colonel Freeleigh), Liya Akhedzhakova (Mrs. Auffmann), Andrei Novikov (Douglas Spoulding), Lidiya Dranovskaya (Miss Bentley).

Here is the translation of the Russian film review, that�s printed on the cover

�Summer heat.
The garden is full of dandelions. They are gathered and turned into superb wine�
Genius inventor makes the Happiness Machine...
Experienced colonel transfers boys to mysterious world or just travels in Time Machine in his memory. Three summer months, three stories by the greatest science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury are made into the movie with greatest fidelity and civility �

It gained some awards:

Award �For the wisest film� (children's film festival, Artek, 1999)
Award �Film I would take with me into space� (children�s film festival, summer camp �Orlyonok�, 1999)
Special award �Zolotaya ladya�
(Film festival �Okno v Evropu�, Vyborg, 2000)
Award �For the best television film� (Television festival �Eurasian TVforum�, Moscow, 2000)

I found some articles on the Russian sites� thought it might be interesting for you These are not the whole text, just some notes.
The director is Igor Apasyan. It took him seven years to make this work.
Famous Russian and Ukrainian actors participated in the shooting, the list of them you have already seen. This film was the last for Innokenti Smoktunovsky (Colonel Freeleigh), legendary Russian actor. He had died before the movie was released. It was planned to create a panegyric in defence of childhood, hymn of humaneness, kindness, love and kind-heartedness. His dream was realized by appearance of grandmother and young characters of the film.
Lidiya Dranovskaya (Miss Bentley) is said to be Russian Audrey Hepburn. She is playing her character�s death with inconceivable power, her talent is shown through with saturated colors and subtle shades scale.
Well, to my mind the movie is pretty good but can be a bit ponderous. It�s impossible to make a screen version equal to the very book. Some episodes seemed to me magnificent. I think they are made in the best way. It�s worth watching!
It is a pity you haven�t seen it yet�

greenreed, many thanks for this information. This film is very obscure (for those of us in the English-speaking world), and information is very difficult to find.

Anyone wanting a taste of what that web page says, here's a link to a Babelfish translation of it. (Note how the software struggles to transliterate Ray's name!)

- Phil

[This message has been edited by philnic (edited 07-21-2004).]

greenreed,
Spasibo!
I really don't speak Russian. I'm Orthodox, so I pick up a little here and there...
I'd love to see this film!

Spasiba! Nice to see some actors whom I haven't seen in a while - I think I'll have to make mini russian Marathon to get back into shape. Gotto whip out Trakovsky back from the closet.
By the by, have you seen Russian Ark? Do so for the cinematography.

Cheers, Translator

(favorite russian movie - what else but Solaris. Serries - 17 days of Spring. How about you all?).

Cheers, Translator

Wow, thanks for posting that. I was under the impression it was a miniseries, but the VHS version (anyway) seems to be one movie with three stories. I see they took the liberty of bumping off poor Mrs. Bentley. I would love to see this! I wouldn't care whether there were subtitles, and I don't like dubbed movies--I'd just watch and get what I could from it. I suppose it's available only in Russia and their VHS format is different than the American. Now, if "Wonderworks" were still on PBS, they'd be the ones to locate films such as this!

Translator,

Welcome back.

Favorite Russian movies? The Hunt for Red October. The Russia House. Dr. Zhivago. War and Peace. (The one with Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn in it.)

Oh, wait. You mean Russian movies.

Never mind.

Best,

Pete

WOW!
Just the description of the Russian film 'Dandelion Wine' is enough to want to buy it. Let's see, the older exchange rate (year 2000) for Rubbles and dollars was $1.00 for 23 Rubbles. That would make it about 7 bucks back then.

[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 07-22-2004).]

I see Russian movies are very popular here.

Best regards,
Alexandra.

There was also a great Russian movie about teutonic knights I saw back in the day...or the one about a girl who had to always get back underwater for the night (damn forgot the title - any help?)...I'm raiding the local eastern europe videostores tonight.

cheers, Translator

dandelion,

I was wrong when wrote that Dranovskaya was Mrs. Bentley. Actually, she was playing Douglas's Great-grandma. Excuse my having done this mistake. As I can say Russians didn�t change any facts in the movie�

As to series� when I was watching it, I counted about five series� and the film lasted more then 5 hours, not 3,5 that�s written on the cover.
It is lacking in some episodes from the book�.Green Machine for example� but others are done pretty well� Colonel Freeleigh and his stories, his telephone �narcotic calls across continents, an isthmus, whole jungle countries of rain forest, blue-orchid plateaus, lakes and hills ...� , Douglas�s fever with its �far away a voice began to sing. It was a high sad voice rising and falling. It was a clear voice and it was in tune. You could not make out the words.� I think the way it had been made proved a success� Though it may seem to me so only because I�m Russian

Translator

"There was also a great Russian movie about teutonic knights..."

I guess it's "Alexander Nevsky"...Alexander Nevsky was the grand prince. The film is about epoch-making victory over those Teutonic knights on the Chudskoe-Lake. The Battle on the Ice
"...or the one about a girl who had to always get back underwater for the night (damn forgot the title - any help?)"

"Rusalochka" maybe? (mermaid in English). Like yours Disney's Ariel... She had to fall in love to become mortal?

Thanks for clearing up those points, greenreed. Glad Mrs. Bentley was spared while Great-Grandma went to her reward. The Green Machine would be hard to do in ANY film. I looked it up and it was a certain type of electric automobile produced for a few years in the early 20th Century. I think they weren't even being manufactured by 1928, and the elderly sisters may have bought a used model. And I did have the impression that it was a miniseries. Too bad they couldn't put the other two episodes on another tape and call them "Part 1" and "Part 2." Yes, I would LOVE to see this, but have little idea how it could be accomplished.

Thanks greenreed, I'll check Rusalochka out. I saw a polish translation of it, so the title was polish as well...
"Alexander Nevsky" it was, Thanks!

Cheers, Translator

If this was as true to the story as said, and received so many awards, it sounds a lot more promising than many English-language films of Bradbury's works. How about a Russian version of "The Illustrated Man"?