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Cast
Oleg Dal
as Soldier / Puppet master
Marina Neyolova
as Princess / innkeeper's daughter
Vladimir Etush
as King / Innkeeper
Georgiy Vitsin
as good wizard
Vera Titova
as witch / davil's grandmother
Viktor Perevalov
as Prince-chimney sweep
Georgiy Shtil
as Eastern Prince
Anatoly Korolkevich
as doorman
Georgi Georgiu
as "thick"
Lev Lemke
as "thin"
Movie Info & Details
Release Year1968
Runtime1h 30m
LanguageRussian
CertificationNR
GenresFamily, Fantasy
Votes21
DirectorNadezhda Kosheverova
WritersValeri Frid, Yuli Dunsky
TypeFeature Film
Rating6.3 out of 10
Cast10 credited
Also Known AsA Very Old Story
About A Very Old Story
Based on the famous fairytale "The Tinderbox" by Hans Christian Andersen. The main character of the film is a puppeteer who lives in a poor and gray world. He composes a fairy tale in which he himself, in the guise of a brave soldier, finds a flint and is helped by a kind wizard. The soldier falls in love with a spoiled, capricious princess who, as befits a princess, poses riddles to her numerous suitors. Her father, the king, is eager to see the soldier as her husband, as he believes the soldier has a great deal of gold. In the fairy tale, everything ends well, but in real life, not so much. "But life is not a fairy tale," his beloved girl says to him as she bids him farewell.
Directed by Nadezhda Kosheverova, A Very Old Story leans on a strong ensemble — Oleg Dal, Marina Neyolova, Vladimir Etush — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about family titles of 1968.
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