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Tale of Tales (1979 film)

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Wikipedia article




'Tale of Tales' (, 'Skazka skazok') is a 1979 Soviet/Russian animated film directed by Yuri Norstein[https://www.awn.com/animationworld/book-review-yuri-norstein-and-tale-tales-animators-journey Book Review: 'Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales: An Animator's Journey - Animation World Network] and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow. It has won numerous awards, has been acclaimed by critics and other animators, and has received the title of greatest animated film of all time in various polls. It has been the subject of a 2005 book by Clare Kitson titled 'Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales: An Animator's Journey'.

Plot



'Tale of Tales', like Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Mirror', attempts to structure itself like a human memory. Memories are not recalled in neat chronological order; instead, they are recalled by the association of one thing with another, which means that any attempt to put memory on film cannot be told like a conventional narrative. The film is thus made up of a series of related sequences whose scenes are interspersed between each other. One of the primary themes involves war,[https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/tale-of-tales-3 The New Yorker] with particular emphasis on the enormous losses the Soviet Union suffered on the Eastern Front during World War II. Several recurring characters and their interactions make up a large part of the film, such as the poet, the little girl and the bull, the little boy and the crows, the dancers and the soldiers, the train, the apples and especially the little grey wolf (, syeryenkiy volchok).[https://www.rbth.com/arts/334728-yuri-norstein-tale-tales Why you should watch 'Tale of Tales', the surreal Soviet animation by Yuri Norstein - Russia Beyond]

Yuri Norstein wrote in 'Iskusstvo Kino' magazine that the film is "about simple concepts that give you the strength to live."

Music and poetry



In addition to the original score composed by Mikhail Meyerovich, this film makes use of several other pieces of music. Excerpts from works by Bach (notably the E flat minor 'Prelude' BWV 853 (from 'The Well-Tempered Clavier')) and Mozart (the Andante second movement from Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, K41) are used, and the World War II era tango 'Weary Sun', written by Jerzy Petersburski, features prominently. However, the most important musical inspiration is the following traditional Russian lullaby, which is included in the film in both instrumental and vocal form.

Many situations in the film actually derive from this lullaby, as well as the character of the little grey wolf. Indeed, the film's original title (rejected by the Soviet censors) was 'The Little Grey Wolf Will Come'.

The name 'Tale of Tales' came from a poem of the same name by Turkish poet Nazm Hikmet that Norstein loved since 1962.[http://www.russianmadison.com/index.php?go=Article&in=view&id=183 Russian Madison | | Article]

Awards



*1980—Lille (France) International Festival of Films: Jury Grand Prize

*1980—Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films: Grand Prize

*1980—Ottawa (Canada) International Animation Festival: Best Film Longer Than Three Minutes Award

*1984—Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival: voted by large international jury to be the greatest animated film of all time[http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.4/articles/deneroffini1.4.html The Olympiad of Animation: An Interview With Fini Littlejohn]

*2002—Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films: again voted by large international jury to be the greatest animated film of all time

Creators



In popular culture



Australian electronic duo The Presets paid homage to 'Tale of Tales' in the music video for their song "Girl and the Sea" from their album 'Beams'.[http://www.cartoonbrew.com/music-videos/lee-lennoxs-girl-and-the-sea Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation Lee Lennoxs Girl and the Sea]

See also



*History of Russian animation

*List of films considered the best

*List of films based on poems

*List of stop-motion films

*'Hedgehog in the Fog', another Yuri Norstein film from 1975

*Arthouse animation

References





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