Charodei


Charodei is a 1982 Soviet romantic fantasy musical comedy television film directed by Konstantin Bromberg. The film premiered on Soviet Central Television on 31 December 1982.

Plot summary

Ivan Puhov is in love with a very kind and friendly girl, Alyona. Alyona works as a witch in a research institution that researches magic called NUINU. The couple are about to get married when Alyona's jealous and scheming co-worker, Sataneev, tricks Alyona's boss, Kira Shemahanskaya, the institute director, into putting a spell on Alyona. The spell makes Alyona undergo a severe personality change, become unable to control her actions, and forget about Ivan. Alyona's colleagues, Viktor and Foma, notice a changes in her behavior and try to figure out a way to break the curse while simultaneously protecting the institution's latest research development, a magic wand.

Cast

The film was initially written by brothers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky as adaptation of their 1965 science fantasy novel Monday Begins on Saturday. But Bromberg turned down the script due to its serious tone and social commentary, and the Strugatskys had to rewrite their script as a light-hearted romantic comedy. As a result, the movie bore almost no resemblance to the book besides the setting and several characters' names. History later repeated itself with another film by Sokurov Days of Eclipse.
The film became a classic Soviet New Year's Eve romantic comedy, similar to Irony of Fate and The Carnival Night.

Film soundtrack

Film soundtrack includes many classical Soviet songs, written by Yevgeni Krylatov and Leonid Derbenyov, including:
  • "A woman's Enigma" performed by Irina Otieva
  • "Three White Horses" performed by Larisa Dolina
  • "A Song About A Snowflake" performed by and VIA
  • "Witch-River" performed by Irina Otieva
  • "A Song About a Suit" performed by Emmanuil Vitorgan and Mikhail Svetin
  • "Imagine That" performed by Aleksandr Abdulov
  • "Time to Sleep" performed by Mikhail Svetin
  • "Serenade" performed by original cast members
  • "Centaurs" performed by Dobrie Molodtsy
  • "By The Mirror" performed by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya
  • "You Can't Command Your Heart" performed by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya and Vladislav Lynkovskiy
  • "Don't Believe What They Say" performed by original cast members
Music performance by State Symphony Orchestra of Cinematography of the USSR.