Cinematography:
Viktor YakushevComposer:
Igor MorozovCast:
Urho Somersalmi, Anna Orochko, Ivan Voronov, Andris Oshin, Georgiy Millyar, Aleksandr Macheret, Eve Kivi, Michail Troyanovsky, Valentin Brylejev (more)Plots(1)
Based on the Finnish national epic “Kalevala,” director Aleksandr Ptushko’s ravishing, mystical fantasy tells the story of a sinister witch Louhi (Anna Orochko) who covets the Sampo, a magical, rainbow-colored mill that can produce endless salt, grain, and gold. When the hero Lemminkäinen (Andris Oshin) attempts to stop her, Louhi steals the sun, plunging the world into eternal darkness. A Finnish/Soviet co-production and shot like its predecessor Ilya Muromets in gorgeous CinemaScope, Sampo features some of Ptushko’s most surreal and fantastical imagery: a glowing red horse plowing a field of vipers; a boat of fire with a stag’s head; a weeping mother literally walking across the sea to find her lost son. With its witch’s incantations and repeated scenes of forging magical items – “Give me fire for the furnace from the nave of the sky!” – there is a Macbeth-like occult force to the film as well, underscored by the raging blue-gray seas and rock-strewn landscapes. (Deaf Crocodile Films)
(more)Cast
Urho Somersalmi
Russian Empire
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Anna Orochko
Best movies:
Alye parusa (1961)
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Ivan Voronov
Best movies:
Air Crew (1979)
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Andris Oshin
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Georgiy Millyar
Russian Empire
Best movies:
War and Peace (1965)
War and Peace: Part IV (1967)
War and Peace: Part I (1965)
Aleksandr Macheret
Russian Empire
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Eve Kivi
Soviet Union
Best movies:
Impossible! (1975)
Ruslan i Lyudmila (1972)
The Last Relic (1969)
Michail Troyanovsky
Russian Empire
Best movies:
The Childhood of Maxim Gorky (1938)
On His Own (1939)
Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1961)
Valentin Brylejev
Soviet Union
Best movies:
12 stulyev (1977) (series)
The Red and the White (1967)
Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
Emma Hippeläinen
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Ingrid Elhardt
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Lennart Lauramaa
Russian Empire
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Lea Venkula
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Aune Somersalmi
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Mauno Hyvönen
Finland
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Kauko Kokkonen
Russian Empire
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Hilkka Helinä
Russian Empire
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Anneli Haahdenmaa
Finland
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Toivo Lankinen
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)
Kuuno Sevander
Best movies:
The Day the Earth Froze (1959)