Aschenbrödel

I don't understand. Russian but I enjoyed every minute of it! When I think that this was made just after WW II, it's even more amazing as it has such a lavish look to it. Several of the Russian speaking reviewers refer to the jokes and witty dialogue which, of course, I missed but there was so much to enjoy visually that I didn't feel that I was missing anything. The beautiful "exterior" sets are particularly charming and have a perfect Fairy Tale feeling to them! There appears to be a use of miniatures although if they were, everything looks so good that it's impossible to know. It's just that so many of the sets are so large it's difficult to imagine that they were full size. I was similarly impressed by the special effects which were, I believe, exceptional for the period. When I think that this was made during the Stalinist period, i'm impressed that the film appears to be free of any hint of a political message although if I understood the language, I might have detected some subtle references. I would really recommend this - even if, like me, you don't understand Russian. And P.S., I'm also stunned to know the ages of the Prince and Cinderella! The whole time I thought they were extremely gifted teenagers!