Russian Stuff
In a previous century on another coast, I was a linguist.
OK, it was in Seattle about ten years ago, but that’s no way to tell a story.
My specialty was diachronic Slavic linguistics, so when a friend of mine came across these pictures online, he naturally forwarded them to me for explanation.
The images show various movies re-interpreted as old Russian fairy tales. Very cool. Some are a little tough to decipher, so I picked a few of the more obvious ones to show here. I am particularly fond of the steampunked tripods-cum-meatgrinders from War of the Worlds.
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You can see the rest and read others’ guesses as to what they represent (in English) on /Film. They didn’t post a link back to the artist, Andrey Kuznetsov, but you can find more of his work here.
In case the old Russian fairy tales aren’t for you, he has other styles, like this Godzilla with Garmoshka. You almost want him to squish you.
Those interested in this type of thing might also be interested to know that there is a film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita in the works. I should say “another adaptation”. There was a Russian version (a film, not the TV mini-series) in the 90s that has never seen release due to rights issues and a squabble with Bulgakov’s heirs.
I’m not sure how to classify Master and Margarita for the purposes of this blog. Let’s see: Satan is a character, as well as a vodka-and-gun-loving cat named Behemoth/Hippopotamus, depending on the translation (Бегемот in the original). There are also regular 1930s Russians, like the Master, who’s writing a book set in Pontius Pilate’s Jerusalem, and his lover Margarita. Fantasy, maybe?
I made the mistake of reading it in Russian before I was really ready and have been turned off ever since. A good movie version would be welcome and might convince me to pick the book up again.
Andrew Lloyd Weber has also stated an interest in doing a musical (or actual opera) adaptation. No comment.
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:56 am
I really like how this post has caused the ads to run stuff about dating Russian women. Hooray for poorly functioning contextual ad placement!
March 5th, 2008 at 11:01 am
You should see the ads on the “Preview” page where I haven’t set up AdSense (since no one sees it but me). It offers me Christian singles all the time.
And in the beginning, all we got were puppy ads.