Last Year's Snow Was Falling
Encyclopedia
Last Year's Snow Was Falling is a 1983 Soviet clay-animated
film directed by Aleksandr Tatarskiy
(T/O Ekran studio).
The film reached a cult status after its first appearance on Central TV. The aphoristic remarks of the characters, full of absurd humor, turned into colloquial proverbs.
For this work Tatarskiy received the Silver Cooker award at the 1983 Varna International Film Festival.
Loosely based on some folk fairy tales.
Some phrases that later became colloquial (Who is here, for example, the last in line for the Tsar position? Nobody?! Then I'll be the First!) were defended by Tatarskiy and Ivanov with scandals. Despite their attempts the film was sent "for revision". It was cut anew and redubbed.
Clay animation
Clay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay....
film directed by Aleksandr Tatarskiy
Aleksandr Tatarskiy
Aleksander Mihailovich Tatarskiy was a Soviet/Russian animation film director, script writer and producer, animator and an artist of Ukrainian origin...
(T/O Ekran studio).
The film reached a cult status after its first appearance on Central TV. The aphoristic remarks of the characters, full of absurd humor, turned into colloquial proverbs.
For this work Tatarskiy received the Silver Cooker award at the 1983 Varna International Film Festival.
Loosely based on some folk fairy tales.
Plot summary
The surreal misadventures of a lazy drunkard with a speech impediment trying to get a New Year tree on a short notice. The audience follows him on two trips to the forest and back home; the narrator closes the story by saying that the man eventually did get the tree, but it was already spring by that time, so he had to take it back.Censorship
The absurd style of narration raised censors' suspicions that the film "contains encoded messages to foreign intelligence". Also they said to Tatarskiy that he is disrespectful to the Russian man ("you have just one character in the film and he is an idiot").Some phrases that later became colloquial (Who is here, for example, the last in line for the Tsar position? Nobody?! Then I'll be the First!) were defended by Tatarskiy and Ivanov with scandals. Despite their attempts the film was sent "for revision". It was cut anew and redubbed.
Interesting facts
- Sadalsky did not appear in the credits. Shortly before the final cut, the actor was arrested inside the Cosmos Hotel with a foreign citizen. The information against Sadalsky was reported to Gosteleradio director S. Lapin who ordered the removal of Sadalsky's name from the credits as a penalty for forbidden relations with foreigners.
Quotes
- That's my size!
- That's not quite enough!!!
- I understand nothing!..
- If I'm such a merchant (cupets') out here, then why do I need that ill-famed wife?! That's not quite enough!!!
- Noble animal!.. Fur! Meat!.. I'll roast some cracklings!..
- We, the boyarBoyarA boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s, are hard-working people! That is really our boyar's lot... - Oh, how I do love and respect such treasure!..
- Oh, what a fine doormat!.. it was...
- Oh, really, those fairy tales!.. Oh, really, those fairy-tellers!..
- Auntie, let me go! I know the "magic" word - "Please!"
- Many fir-trees and many yous! But no sense - that's not quite enough!!!
- Who wants a hare, hare-runhare?
- How'd you like that heel-dance?!
- When I'll be a Tsar, I'll get a pianinaPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. What the life is without a pianina? - Who is here, for example, the last for a Tsar position? Nobody? Then I'll be the first!
- Such a pleasant flexibility formed in the body!..
- For the third time he went to get the fir-tree and finally obtained it... But it was spring already and he returned it back...
- There's lot of idiots here, but a small number of hares, I see.
- Once upon a time there lived an eagle-man. Well-shaped, well-done - just like I in time of my youth.
- Don't foul [the well]! Forgot the proverb? Well, nothing, you will remember it now!
- When acornAcornThe acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
is ripe it will be eaten by every pig!
External links
- Last Year's Snow Was Falling at Animator.ruAnimator.ruAnimator.ru is a Russian website chronicling the films, people and studios of the animation industry in Russia, the former Soviet Union and the CIS. It also includes a forum, a news block, a photo-gallery and an animators labour exchange...