''Devil's Bride'' (, ) is the first Soviet

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

created in 1974 and based on the novel by Kazys Boruta '' Baltaragis's Mill'').This musical is a joint creation by the director , composer Vyacheslav Ganelin and the

scriptwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, Lithuanian poet

Sigitas Geda Sigitas Geda (full name - Sigitas Zigmas Geda; 4 February 1943 – 12 December 2008) was a Lithuanian poet, translator, playwright, essayist, critic and a member of the Lithuanian independence movement, Sąjūdis, and of the Lithuanian parliament, ...

.
"Velnio nuotaka"
Lithuanian film archive Due to its popularity it is sometimes called a Lithuanian ''

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Synopsis

The plot of the musical was simplified compared to the original and less tragic.С. В. Фишер
«МЕЛЬНИЦА БАЛТАРАГИСА»: ПОВЕСТЬ — МЮЗИКЛ — ФИЛЬМ — БАЛЕТ
Вестник Академии Русского балета им. А. Я. Вагановой. No 2 (43) 2016 A devil Pinčiukas (Gediminas Girvainis), evicted from the heaven, lands on the Earth near the mill of Baltaragis (Vasilijus Simčičius). Pinčiukas and Baltaragis conclude a pact: the devil will help the miller in his work and will get him a spectacular wife, Marcelė (Vaiva Mainelytė). In exchange, Baltaragis will let Pinčiukas marry the beautiful daughter he and Marcelė will have. Soon after giving birth to a daughter, Marcelė dies. The daughter, Jurga (played by the same actress interpreting her mother, Vaiva Mainelytė), grows up to become a beautiful woman, and the handsome Girdvainis (Regimantas Adomaitis) falls in love with her. Pinčiukas plays all sort of tricks to separate Jurga from Girdvainis, while Baltaragis regrets his pact with the devil and tries to persuade him to marry instead his not-so-beautiful sister Uršulė (Regina Varnaitė). In the end, the whole village realizes Pinčiukas is a devil and tries to kill him by drowning him in a nearby river, but he is saved by Uršulė, who is secretly in love with him. In the final scene, Jurga is happily riding with Girdvainis, and they pass by Uršulė and Pinčiukas, who also seem happy with their children.

Cast

* Vaiva Mainelytė – Jurga and Marcelė *

Regimantas Adomaitis Regimantas Adomaitis (31 January 1937 – 20 June 2022) was a Lithuanian film and stage actor. He was also active in Russia and Germany. Career Adomaitis was born in Šiauliai. He graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Vilniu ...

– Girdvainis; singing by Vytautas Kernagis * Gediminas Girdvainis – Pinčiukas * Vasilijus Simčičius – Baltaragis; singing by *

Regina Varnaitė Regina Varnaitė (born 19 May 1927) is a Lithuanian actress of film, stage and television. Biography Varnaitė was born on 1927 in Ukmergė. Her father was a villager and her mother a Religious (Catholic), religious Catholic. She grew up togeth ...

– Uršulė * Bronius Babkauskas horse thief Raupys *

Juozas Meškauskas Juozas is a Lithuanian language, Lithuanian masculine given name, a shortened version of Juozapas, which in turn is the equivalent of English ''Joseph (given name), Joseph''. List of people named Juozas

*Juozas Adomaitis-Šernas (1859–1922), ...

* Regina Arbačiauskaitė * Danutė Krištopaitytė * Jonas Pakulis – The Almighty

Reception

''Velnio nuotaka'' was one of the most successful and celebrated movies in the Lithuanian cinema of the Soviet era. Critics have noted influences of Russian movies, but have also praised the originality of “the set and camera movement” that made Arūnas Žebriūnas's style somewhat unique. An “historical Lithuanian movie,” it was also influenced by the “devilish” 1970s, as evidenced by “its portrait of a quite licentious Satanic kingdom on earth.”“Dossier de presse: La Belle”
2018, 4.

References

External links

* {{imdb title, id=0153509, title=Devil's Bride 1974 films 1974 musical films Soviet-era Lithuanian films Soviet musical films Films based on Lithuanian novels 1970s Soviet films 1970s Russian-language films Russian-language musical films Music of Lithuania