Charodei - Misplaced Pages

1982 Soviet Union TV series or program

Charodei
DVD cover
Written by	Arkady Strugatsky Boris Strugatskyа
Directed by	Konstantin Bromberg
Starring	Aleksandra Yakovleva Aleksandr Abdulov Yekaterina Vasilyeva Valentin Gaft Yevgeny Vesnik Valery Zolotukhin
Music by	Yevgeni Krylatov
Country of origin	Soviet Union
Original language	Russian
Production
Producer	Lyudmila Pozdnyakova
Cinematography	Konstantin Opryatin
Editor	Nadezhda Yavorskaya
Running time	160 minutes
Production company	Odessa Film Studio
Original release
Release	1982 (1982)

Charodei (Russian: Чародеи, translations Enchanters, Sorcerers, Magicians) is a 1982 Soviet romantic fantasy musical film directed by Konstantin Bromberg.

Plot summary

Ivan Puhov (Abdulov) is in love with a very kind and friendly girl, Alyona (Yakovleva). Alyona works as a witch in a research institution that researches magic called NUINU (Scientific Universal Institute of Extraordinary Services, a NIICHAVO subsidiary in Kitezhgrad; for NIICHAVO see Monday Begins on Saturday). The couple are about to get married when Alyona's jealous and scheming co-worker, Sataneev (Gaft), tricks Alyona's boss, Kira Shemahanskaya (Vasilyeva), the institute director, into putting a spell on Alyona. The spell makes Alyona undergo a severe personality change, become unable to control her actions, and forget about Ivan. Alyona's colleagues, Viktor and Foma, notice a changes in her behavior and try to figure out a way to break the curse while simultaneously protecting the institution's latest research development, a magic wand.

Cast

Aleksandra Yakovleva as Alyona Igorevna Sanina "Alyonushka"
Aleksandr Abdulov as Ivan Sergeevich Puhov
Yekaterina Vasilyeva as Kira Anatolyevna Shemahanskaya (vocal by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya)
Valentin Gaft as Apollon Mitrofanovich Sataneev
Yevgeny Vesnik as chairman of the commission
Valery Zolotukhin as Ivan Kivrin
Emmanuil Vitorgan as Viktor Kovrov
Mikhail Svetin as Foma Ostapych Bryl
Roman Filippov as Modest Matveevich Kamneyedov
Anna Ashimova as Nina Puhova
Semyon Farada as The Guest from South
Leonid Kharitonov as Amatin

Production

The film was initially written by brothers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky as adaptation of their 1965 science fantasy novel Monday Begins on Saturday. But Bromberg turned down the script due to its serious tone and social commentary, and the Strugatskys had to rewrite their script as a light-hearted romantic comedy. As a result, the movie bore almost no resemblance to the book besides the setting and several characters' names. History later repeated itself with another film by Sokurov Days of Eclipse (Dni zatmeniya).

The film became a classic Soviet New Year's Eve romantic comedy, similar to Irony of Fate (Ironiya sud'by) and The Carnival Night (Karnavalnaya noch).

Film soundtrack

External videos
Don't Believe What They Say ("Говорят, а ты не верь")

Film soundtrack includes many classical Soviet songs (some of them romantic), written by Yevgeni Krylatov and Leonid Derbenyov, including:

"A woman's Enigma" (Russian: Загадка женщины) performed by Irina Otieva [ru]
"Three White Horses" (Три белых коня) performed by Larisa Dolina
"A Song About A Snowflake" (Песня о снежинке) performed by Olga Rozhdestvenskaya [ru] and VIA Dobrie Molodtsy [ru]
"Witch-River" (Ведьма-речка) performed by Irina Otieva
"A Song About a Suit" (Песенка про костюмчик) performed by Emmanuil Vitorgan and Mikhail Svetin
"Imagine That" (Представь себе) performed by Aleksandr Abdulov
"Time to Sleep" (Спать пора) performed by Mikhail Svetin
"Serenade" (Серенада) performed by original cast members
"Centaurs" (Кентавры) performed by Dobrie Molodtsy
"By The Mirror" (Подойду я к зеркалу) performed by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya
"You Can't Command Your Heart" (Только сердцу не прикажешь) performed by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya and Vladislav Lynkovskiy
"Don't Believe What They Say" (Говорят, а ты не верь) performed by original cast members

Music performance by State Symphony Orchestra of Cinematography of the USSR.

References

External links

Charodei at IMDb
Charodei at AllMovie

Works by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

Noon Universe

Novels	Noon: 22nd Century Escape Attempt Far Rainbow Hard to Be a God Disquiet Prisoners of Power Space Mowgli The Kid from Hell Beetle in the Anthill The Waves Extinguish the Wind
Related works	The Land of Crimson Clouds The Way to Amalthea Space Apprentice The Final Circle of Paradise
Adaptations	Hard to Be a God (1989) Dark Planet (2008–09) Hard to Be a God (2013)

NIICHAVO novels

Other novels

Adaptations

Dead Mountaineer's Hotel (1979)
Stalker (1979)
Charodei (1982)
Dead Man's Letters (1986)
Days of Eclipse (1988)
The Ugly Swans (2006)

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