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23/07/1980 Drama, Fantasy, Romance 1h 23m
59
User score

Overview

Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The spirit of the forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.

  1. Yurii Illienko

    Director

Top billed cast

  1. Lyudmila Efimenko

    Mavka

  2. Viktor Kremlev

    Lukash

  3. Maya Bulgakova

    Lukash’s Mother

  4. Ivan Mykolaichuk

    Uncle Leo / Wood Goblin

  5. Boris Khmelnitsky

    Red (forest) Demon

  6. Viktor Demertash

    Koots

  7. Liudmyla Lobza

    Kylyna

  8. Nina Shatskaya

    Water Sprite

  9. Svetlana Sergeyeva

    Meadow Fairy

  10. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by SGhosh
Written by SGhosh on 2014-02-10
It seems that I have stumbled on one of Yuri Ilyenko’s masterpieces at last, a beautiful and tragic adaptation of a play (written in 1912) based around folklore. Mavka, a water nymph is enticed by a young man’s flute and falls in love with him, only to be betrayed as the man marries another. The forest spirit turns the man into a werewolf for his betrayal, but Mavka’s devotion breaks the spell even as the man’s wife curses Mavka. A fantasy from the priceless vaults of Cinema from USSR, this is a gorgeous film, and the use of color (as it was talked about a few posts back) is especially...read the rest
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Status
Released

Original Language
Ukrainian

Budget
$0.00

Revenue
$0.00

Keywords