Anderusen Dowa Ningyo Hime | Rusalochka
Anderusen Dowa Ningyo Hime
The anime version of the little mermaid is a haunting and accurate retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairytale. This 1979 movie was an unknown to me during my childhood years, which, I think, was a good thing because this tragic tale would be too much for my young heart to take.
Marina is a mermaid. Innocent and carefree, you would've thought nothing bad would befall her. But things always have an unexpected way of turning out, especially when you're a mermaid who's in love with a human.
Marina's character develops throughout the story. She changes from being a childlike and angelic mermaid to a serious young lady. The change is seen most prominently through her eyes. You can almost feel her sorrow through those beautiful eyes. And all these happened because she fell in love.
Marina saves the prince from drowning and falls hopelessly in love with him. She strikes a deal with the sea witch amidst protests from Fritz, Marina's best friend. Marina gets her legs, but painfully so. She disregards it, focusing on her desire to be with the prince. The prince finds her and takes care of her, but like a brother to a sister.
The prince ends up marrying another, and the little mermaid is left crushed, heartbroken and to die. There is a way out of death: plunge a magical knife into the prince's heart, and when his blood touches Marina's legs, she would turn back into a mermaid. The scene where she contemplates whether to stab the prince is so moving.
Marina loves the prince so much that she can't let him die. She sacrifices herself in the end. She throws herself into the sea, where she was born, where she belongs. She dies, but her soul ascends to heaven. *sniff*
Before her death, Marina leaves her hairclip and a piece of scale from her tail on the ship. The prince finds them and suddenly realises that Marina's the girl who saved him, and that she is the one he loves.
I love this movie for its gorgeous animation, its haunting tale, and for the fact that it isn't dumbed down to be just another 'mermaid cartoon' on the shelf. Watch this movie, and I would advise that you stock up on tissues.
More scenes from the movie:
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Rusalochka
Rusalochka is a 1976 Russian adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's sad story of love, The Little Mermaid. The movie stars Viktoriya Novikova as the little mermaid, Yuri Senkevich as the prince, Mikhail Yanushkevich as the nomad, Galina Volchek as the witch and Galina Artyomova as the princess.
The movie is a close adaptation but there are important differences. For instance, the mermaid has blue hair, which I think, is a first. The witch is not from under the sea but a human being on land. The little mermaid surprisingly need not give up her voice, but in exchange for a pair of legs, she has to give up her beautiful blue hair that the witch adores. Although the little mermaid still possesses the ability to speak, it's a wonder why she doesn’t tell the prince that she is the one who saved him from drowning.
The mermaids in Rusalochka are portrayed to be evil. They sit on rocks and sing to passing ships and they are able to cause deadly catastrophes that would kill the sailors. The mermaids do this to please their father, the sea king. The humans know of the evil nature and existence of mermaids. They are afraid of mermaids but only when they are at sea. If they ever see a mermaid near land, they will hurt and kill them.
So the story goes, the little mermaid saves the prince from drowning. After the prince is "saved" by a princess, the little mermaid ventured in waters near the palace to catch a glimpse of the prince whom she has fallen deeply in love with. A man sees the little mermaid in the shallow waters, and he hurls stones at her for fun.
A kind nomad comes across the little mermaid. He advises her to forget about the prince because that will eventually lead to her doom. However, the little mermaid persists, and her determination touched him. He swears that he will help her achieve her dreams. Secretly the nomad falls in love with the little mermaid.
The nomad finds a witch, whose has a day job working as a snappy bartender. The witch refuses to help the little mermaid at first but upon seeing her beautiful blue hair, she agrees to help the poor mermaid in exchange for her hair. She forewarns the little mermaid about the pain that she will have to go through during the transformation. The little mermaid listens, fully understands, and accepts.
Upon getting her legs and a new head of blonde hair, the little mermaid is happier than ever. The events take a surprising twist when the man who saw the little mermaid earlier tells everyone that she is not human but a mermaid on legs. This causes an uproar and everyone in town is determined to burn the "cursed creature" alive. The nomad hurriedly dashes to the palace to get the prince down to the town square to save the little mermaid.
The prince does not recognise the little mermaid in any way. To him, he is merely seeing the lovely girl for the first time. The prince is a reasonable man so he orders the townspeople to stop their foolish act and accusations. The townspeople are not convinced but there is nothing they can do but to obey.
And so the little mermaid finally gets to see her prince. The prince is mesmerised by her beauty and grace, but in his heart he loves the princess and is set to marry her. The prince invites the little mermaid to the palace.
The little mermaid and the prince enjoy their time together, but that's it. The prince only loves the princess who "saved" his life and on the day they are married, the little mermaid dies.
The nomad is sad that the beautiful mermaid died in vain and is angry at the injustice of it all. He wants to avenge the little mermaid and so he attacks the prince. The nomad is obviously weaker and is killed at once.
Upon murdering the nomad, the prince is suddenly overcome by madness. He runs around wildly, arms flailing madly and suddenly he realises that the lovely girl from the town square is the one who saved him from drowning. But it is all too late. (Why is it always too late?)
There is an interesting subplot I thought I’d mention. During the little mermaid's short stay at the palace, a prince from another land comes to sought the princess's hand in marriage. Prince En Tuane (the one the little mermaid loves) hopes the princess will refuse since they are already set to marry, but the princess enjoys all the attention. She organises a jousting tournament and the one who survives will be eligible to marry her.
After a long battle, Prince En Tuane is killed by the visiting prince. He dies but the princess does not even care! The little mermaid is heartbroken. She pleads the witch to save him and even offers her her soul. The witch pities the little mermaid and she agrees to revive the prince. The prince comes back to life but without thanking the little mermaid, he runs off to meet his princess, leaving the little mermaid all by herself! Talk about gratitude.
More scenes from the movie:
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