Cinematography:
Viktor YakushevComposer:
Igor MorozovCast:
Urho Somersalmi, Anna Orochko, Ivan Voronov, Andris Oshin, Georgiy Millyar, Aleksandr Macheret, Eve Kivi, Michail Troyanovsky, Valentin Brylejev (more)Plots(1)
Based on the Finnish national epic “Kalevala,” director Aleksandr Ptushko’s ravishing, mystical fantasy tells the story of a sinister witch Louhi (Anna Orochko) who covets the Sampo, a magical, rainbow-colored mill that can produce endless salt, grain, and gold. When the hero Lemminkäinen (Andris Oshin) attempts to stop her, Louhi steals the sun, plunging the world into eternal darkness. A Finnish/Soviet co-production and shot like its predecessor Ilya Muromets in gorgeous CinemaScope, Sampo features some of Ptushko’s most surreal and fantastical imagery: a glowing red horse plowing a field of vipers; a boat of fire with a stag’s head; a weeping mother literally walking across the sea to find her lost son. With its witch’s incantations and repeated scenes of forging magical items – “Give me fire for the furnace from the nave of the sky!” – there is a Macbeth-like occult force to the film as well, underscored by the raging blue-gray seas and rock-strewn landscapes. (Deaf Crocodile Films)
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