''Charodei'' (, translations ''Enchanters'', ''Sorcerers'', ''Magicians'') is a 1982

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

romantic fantasy Romantic fantasy, or "romantasy", is a Genre, subgenre of fantasy fiction that combines fantasy and Romance novel, romance, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre. One of the key featur ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by Konstantin Bromberg. The film premiered on

Soviet Central Television The Central Television of the USSR (; abbreviated CT USSR, SCTV ">/nowiki>/nowiki>) was the state television broadcaster of the Soviet Union. Like much of the Soviet media, CT USSR regularly promoted the agendas of the Communist Party. Initi ...

on 31 December 1982.

Plot summary

Ivan Puhov (Abdulov) is in love with a very kind and friendly girl, Alyona (Yakovleva). Alyona works as a

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

in a research institution that researches magic called NUINU (Scientific Universal Institute of Extraordinary Services, a NIICHAVO subsidiary in

Kitezh Kitezh () is a legendary and mythical city beneath the waters of Lake Svetloyar in the Voskresensky District of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in central Russia. Reference to Kitezh appears for the first time in ''Kitezh Chronicle'', an anonymous bo ...

grad; for NIICHAVO see '' Monday Begins on Saturday''). The couple are about to get married when Alyona's jealous and scheming co-worker, Sataneev (Gaft), tricks Alyona's boss, Kira Shemahanskaya (Vasilyeva), 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

* Aleksandra Yakovleva as Alyona Igorevna Sanina "Alyonushka" *

Aleksandr Abdulov Aleksandr Gavrilovich AbdulovАбдулов Г. Д.
Ферганский г� ...

as Ivan Sergeevich Puhov "Ivanushka" * Yekaterina Vasilyeva as Kira Anatolyevna Shemahanskaya (vocal by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya) *

Valentin Gaft Valentin Iosifovich Gaft (; 2 September 1935 – 12 December 2020) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was a People's Artist of the RSFSR (1984). Biography Early life and education Gaft was born in Moscow to Jewish parents, Iosif Ruvimovich Gaft ...

as Apollon Mitrofanovich Sataneev * Yevgeny Vesnik as chairman of the commission *

Valery Zolotukhin Valeri Sergeevich Zolotukhin (, 21 June 1941 – 30 March 2013) was a Soviet and Russian stage and cinema actor who performed at the Taganka Theatre which he also headed between 2011 and 2013. He was named People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1987. B ...

as Ivan Stepanovich Kivrin * Emmanuil Vitorgan as Viktor Kovrov *

Mikhail Svetin Mikhail Semyonovich Svetin (; born Michail Solomonovitch Goltsman; 11 December 1929 – 30 August 2015) was a Soviet, Russian actor. He appeared in more than fifty films. Svetin's room 2.JPG, Makeup room at the Comedy Theatre The Haro ...

as Foma Ostapovich Bryl *

Roman Filippov Roman Sergeyevich Filippov (; 24 January 1936 — 18 February 1992) was a Soviet theater and film actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1987). Selected filmography * ''World Champion'' (1954) as fighter * '' Green Van'' (1959) as Fedka Byk * ...

as Yuliy Tsezarevich Kamneyedov * Anna Ashimova as Nina Puhova, Ivan's sister *

Semyon Farada Semyon Lvovich Ferdman PAR, better known by his stage name Semyon Farada (, December 31, 1933, Nikolskoye village of Moscow Oblast, USSR – August 20, 2009, in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. Early life Ferdman was born ...

as The Guest from South * Leonid Kharitonov as Amatin, Ivan's boss

Production

The film was initially written by brothers

Boris and Arkady Strugatsky The brothers Arkady Strugatsky (28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Strugatsky (14 April 1933 – 19 November 2012) were Soviet and Russian science-fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers. Their notable works i ...

as adaptation of their 1965

science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...

novel '' Monday Begins on Saturday''. But Bromberg turned down the script due to its serious tone and

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

, and the Strugatskys had to rewrite their script as a light-hearted

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

. 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 ''Days of Eclipse'' () (or, '' The Days of Eclipse, Dni Zatmenija, Días de eclipse'') is a 1988 Soviet film directed by Alexander Sokurov. The screenplay is by Yuri Arabov and Pyotr Kadochnikov based on a screenplay by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky ...

'' (Dni zatmeniya). The film became a classic Soviet

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

romantic comedy, similar to ''

Irony of Fate ''The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!'',; usually shortened to ''The Irony of Fate'', is a 1976 Soviet romantic comedy television film directed by Eldar Ryazanov and starring Andrey Myagkov, Barbara Brylska, Yury Yakovlev and Lyubov Do ...

'' (Ironiya sud'by) and '' The Carnival Night'' (Karnavalnaya noch).

Film soundtrack

Film soundtrack includes many classical Soviet songs (some of them romantic), written by Yevgeni Krylatov and Leonid Derbenyov, including: * "A woman's Enigma" () performed by * "Three White Horses" ( Три белых коня) performed by Larisa Dolina * "A Song About A Snowflake" ( Песня о снежинке) performed by and VIA * "Witch-River" (Ведьма-речка) performed by Irina Otieva * "A Song About a Suit" (Песенка про костюмчик) performed by Emmanuil Vitorgan and

* "Imagine That" (Представь себе) performed by

Aleksandr Abdulov Aleksandr Gavrilovich AbdulovАбдулов Г. Д.
Ферганский г� ...

* "Time to Sleep" (Спать пора) performed by Mikhail Svetin * "Serenade" (Серенада) performed by original cast members * "Centaurs" (Кентавры) performed by Dobrie Molodtsy * "By The Mirror" (Подойду я к зеркалу) performed by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya * "You Can't Command Your Heart" (Только сердцу не прикажешь) performed by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya and Vladislav Lynkovskiy * "Don't Believe What They Say" (Говорят, а ты не верь) performed by original cast members Music performance by State Symphony Orchestra of Cinematography of the USSR.

References

External links

* {{Arkady and Boris Strugatsky 1982 television films 1982 comedy films 1982 fantasy films 1982 in the Soviet Union 1982 musical films 1982 science fiction films 1980s musical comedy films 1980s musical fantasy films 1980s Russian-language films 1980s science fiction comedy films Comedy television films The Devil in film Fantasy television films Films about witchcraft Films based on Russian novels Films based on science fiction novels Films based on works by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky Films shot in Moscow Films shot in Vladimir Oblast Odesa Film Studio films Russian fantasy comedy films Russian musical comedy films Russian musical fantasy films Russian science fiction comedy films Science fantasy films Science fiction television films Soviet fantasy comedy films Soviet musical comedy films Soviet musical fantasy films Soviet science fiction comedy films Soviet television films