Morozko (AKA Jack Frost)

AKA Frosty AKA The Crystal Star AKA Father Frost

I had a bit of a difficult time thinking of what to say about this strange little Soviet film.  I had not grown up watching Morozko so had no real nostalgic sentiment coloring my views towards it like so many other films from childhood I still look fondly back upon now and still love to this day that perhaps don't really warrant such affection, e.g. Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot; The Alien Encounters;  At the Earth's Core, etc.  I know the English dubbed version known as Jack Frost was roasted on Mystery Science Theater 3000, but I really think this film doesn't deserve derision or even gentle ribbing, but instead demands to be viewed in the context it was made: a film produced in the Soviet Union in the midst of the Cold War in 1964, based on Russian fairy tales and primarily marketed to children.  This is actually a pretty good kiddie film with colorful cinematography, some beautiful set designs, and nice location scenery, and this middle aged yet by all accounts still ruggedly handsome man living in the United States in the 21st Century thoroughly enjoyed this quaint film.  And it has several elements of the fantastique to admire: an ugly witch that lives in a walking house perched atop giant chicken legs, some beautifully gnarled and twisted trees as part of the lush background scenery with some Sid and Marty Krofft style costumed walking tree creatures to boot, and a little mischievous gnome-like creature called Father Mushroom that turns the main hero into a were-bear.  Not bad for a kid's movie!

More than anything, this film reminded me of the Swedish Pippi Longstocking films I grew up watching on TV in the 70s and 80s; you knew there was probably something being lost in translation in the English dubbing of these strange foreign films, but in the end the meaning of the stories is still successfully carried across the airwaves to the viewer--child or adult--transcending the barriers of time, space, language, and cultural differences, and that's not a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon.

Here's the trailer: