A Story of the Forest: Mavka

  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Romance
7/23/1980
83

Storyline

Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The Spirit of the Forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.

Cast

Reviews

  • SGhosh

    It seems that I have stumbled on one of Yuri Ilyenkos masterpieces at last, a beautiful and tragic adaptation of a play (written in 1912) based around folklore. Mavka, a water nymph is enticed by a young mans flute and falls in love with him, only to be betrayed as the man marries another. The forest spirit turns the man into a werewolf for his betrayal, but Mavkas devotion breaks the spell even as the mans wife curses Mavka. A fantasy from the priceless vaults of Cinema from USSR, this is a gorgeous film, and the use of color (as it was talked about a few posts back) is especially brilliant, attaining a symbolic tone through the elements of nature, like snow, fire, leaves, etc. The film is steeped in melancholy, the signature soundtrack bo...

    February 10, 2014

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