''Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors'' (russian: Королевство кривых зеркал, translit. ''Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal'') is a 1963 Soviet fairy tale film directed by Aleksandr Rou based on the novel, '' Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors'', by Vitali Gubarev. At the end of 2007,

Russia TV Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship ch ...

filmed a musical remake with the same name, featuring stars

Nikolay Baskov Nikolay Victorovich Baskov (russian: link=no, Николай Викторович Басков; born 15 October 1976) is a Russian tenor who performs in both operatic and popular music styles. His honors include commendations as Meritorious ...

Alla Pugacheva Alla Borisovna Pugacheva, ) (born 15 April 1949), is а Soviet and Russian musical performer. Her career started in 1965 and continues to this day, even though she has retired from performing. For her "clear mezzo-soprano and a full display o ...

, and the

Tolmachevy Sisters Anastasiya Andreyevna Tolmacheva and Maria Andreyevna Tolmacheva (born 14 January 1997, Kursk), known as the Tolmachevy Sisters (), are identical twin singers and actresses from Kursk, Russia. Aged nine, they won the Junior Eurovision Song Conte ...

. The original film contains introduction music and a fairytale style of the early 1960s. It is also notable for its use of actual twins in the leading roles. The film was also the inspiration for a restaurant in Moscow which only hired twins as waiting staff.The Moscow restaurant only hiring twins
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Plot summary

Similar in subject to and perhaps inspired by the novel

Through The Looking Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

, the film centers around an encounter between a girl named Olya and a mysterious counterpart, Yalo, while staring into a mirror. The characters are exact opposites: Yalo is the absolute opposite of Olya in every way. Where Yalo is organized and precise, Olya is careless and absent-minded. In the story, Olya steps through the mirror into the Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors where Yalo resides. The kingdom, under the rule of King Yagupop LXXVII (reverse of Popugay, meaning

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

), produces crooked mirrors that brainwash its people through subtle changes in reality. When Yalo's friend, a boy named Gurd (reverse of Drug, meaning friend), is suddenly imprisoned for refusing to make crooked mirrors by the evil leaders Anidag (reverse of Gadina, meaning

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

), Nushrok (reverse of Korshun, meaning

kite A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the fac ...

) and Abazh (reverse of Zhaba, meaning

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

), Olya decides to accompany Yalo to rescue him. They meet a character who introduces herself as Aunt Aksal (reverse of Laska, meaning kindness), one of the king's cooks, who in order to help them reach the king and save Gurd, disguises them as

pages Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

of the king. On meeting the king, Anidag, Nushrok, and Abazh reveal themselves to be the actual powers behind the throne. The latter half of the story focuses on their ultimate defeat and the rescue of Gurd with the help of Anidag's humiliated old servant Bar (reverse of Rab, meaning slave), who rebels against his master. The kingdom's mirrors are returned to normal, and its society becomes free. Olya at last returns to her home and lives happily ever after with her grandmother. It has been suggested the story is directed at the perceived hypocrisy of western nations in attacking the Soviet propaganda machine during the Cold War.

Cast

* Olga Yukina as ''Olya'' *

Tatyana Yukina Tatiana (or Tatianna, also Romanization, romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe. Variations * be, Тацця́на, Tatsiana * bg, Татяна, T ...

as ''Yalo'' *

Tatyana Barysheva Tatyana Semyonovna Barysheva (russian: Татья́на Семёновна Ба́рышева; 31 December 1896 - 10 February 1979) was a Soviet stage and film actress. Life Barysheva was born in Moscow. From 1915 to 1918 she was an actress at th ...

as ''Grandmother'' *

Anatoly Kubatsky Anatoly Lvovich Kubatsky (russian: Анато́лий Льво́вич Куба́цкий) (1 November 1908 – 29 December 2001) was a Soviet stage and film actor. Life Kubatsky was born in Moscow to parents of Polish ancestry. After studying und ...

as ''Jagupop 77'' *

Andrei Fajt Andrei Andreyevich Fajt (russian: Андрей Андреевич Файт; 29 August 1903 – 17 January 1976) was a Soviet film actor. He appeared in 44 films between 1925 and 1976. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and died in Moscow ...

as ''Nushrok'' *

Lidiya Vertinskaya Lidiya Vladimirovna Vertinskaya (russian: Лидия Владимировна Вертинская), born Tsirgvava ( ka, წირღვავა; russian: Циргва́ва) (14 April 1923 – 31 December 2013) was a Russian and Georgian ac ...

as ''Anidag'' * Arkadi Tsinman as ''Abag'' *

Andrei Stapran Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/ Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...

as ''Gurd'' * Ivan Kuznetsov as ''Bar'' *

Georgi Millyar Georgy Frantsevich Millyar, sometimes spelled Milliar (russian: Георгий Францевич Милляр; 7 November 1903 in Moscow – 4 June 1993 in Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian actor, best known for playing evil spirits in Soviet fai ...

as ''Grand Master of ceremonies'' *

Pavel Pavlenko Pavel Pavlovich Pavlenko (russian: Павел Павлович Павленко) (20 September 1902 – 9 March 1993) was a Soviet stage and film actor. Life Born in Kiev, he later moved to Moscow and graduated in 1919 from the Moscow City Theatr ...

as ''Master of ceremonies'' *

Tamara Nosova Tamara Nosova (russian: Тамара Макаровна Носова; 21 November 1927 – 25 March 2007) was a Soviet and Russian actress, who was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1992. She appeared in 27 films between 19 ...

as ''Aunt Aksal'' *

Vera Altayskaya Vera Vladimirovna Altayskaya (russian: Ве́ра Влади́мировна Алта́йская) (21 May 1919 – 28 December 1978) was a Soviet actress known for her roles in children's fairy tale films and comedies. Born in Petrograd, she wa ...

as ''Asirk'' *

Alexander Khvylya Alexander Leopoldovich Khvylya (born Bressem, russian: Александр Леопольдович Хвыля, uk, Олександр Леопольдович Хвиля, ''Oleksandr Leopoldovych Khvylya''; 15 July 1905 – 17 October 1976) was ...

as ''the royal chef'' * Valentin Bryleyev as ''tambourmajor''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingdom Of Crooked Mirrors 1964 films 1960s children's fantasy films Soviet fantasy films 1960s Russian-language films Gorky Film Studio films Russian children's fantasy films Films directed by Aleksandr Rou Films based on fairy tales Soviet children's films