DESCRIPTION

VASILISA THE BEAUTIFUL is also known in the west as "The Frog Princess" (as it was titled in the U.S. release of Soyuzmultfilm's ravishing animated cartoon version of 1954). But this 1939 version is LIVE ACTION (b&w) and is utterly enjoyable, and striking in many ways. It is told in the typical, rather crude and straightforward manner of a folk-tale, but is extremely impressive from a visual standpoint. It is fascinating to behold the detailed recreation of a primitive, rural farmhouse, with its distinctive bell-towers and gables all fashioned of timber, basking in the brilliant sunshine and surrounded by vast wheat fields.