- For the episode, see MST3K 813 - Jack Frost.
Jack Frost is a 1965 mythology/folklore movie directed by Aleksandr Rou.
Plot[]
The lovely, humble Nastenka is despised by her stepmother who favors her own mean-spirited and ugly daughter, Marfushka. Nastenka's her meek father is powerless to stop his wife's mistreatment of his daughter. Nastenka's stepmother gives Nastenka a series of grueling chores.
At a nearby home, the handsome young Ivan finishes his chores and heads out into the woods after receiving some final words of guidance from his mother. While traveling in the woods, Ivan is accosted by bandits. He quickly distracts them and tosses their wooden clubs so high in the air that he claims they won't fall down again until winter.
Later, Ivan meets the elderly Starichok-Borovichok, who playfully challenges Ivan to try and catch him and offers him a prize if he does. Being able to turn invisible, Starichok-Borovichok soon wins, and offers a contrite Ivan the prize anyway - a fine bow and quiver of arrows. When asked to bow before him in gratitude, Ivan boastfully declares "The bear may bow before you, but not Ivan" and leaves. Starichok-Borovichok remarks that the bear will indeed bow before him, but it would be Ivan's back that would bend.
Ivan (after being turned into a bear) finds Nastenka
Ivan meets Nastenka, who has been ordered to pour water on a stump to make flowers grow in it. Taken by her beauty, he immediately asks her to marry him, citing his fine health and many accomplishments. She demurs, noting that he is too much of a braggart. Eager to prove his worth, he attempts to shoot a mother bear with her cubs, which terrifies Nastenka, who stops him by placing a bucket over his head. Starichok-Borovichok is watching nearby, and he changes Ivan's head into that of a bear. Horrified at the change, Ivan accuses Nastenka of being a witch and runs off, leaving her to weep alone by the stump, her tears causing flowers to grow from it.
Wandering the land, Ivan comes across Starichok-Borovichok again, who scolds Ivan over his selfish nature, and how he never acted selflessly for anyone else. Thinking that all he must do to change back is a good deed, Ivan immediately seeks out people, demanding to know how he can help them. His bear's head terrifies the people and they all flee from him. He finally comes across an old woman carrying sticks to her home and offers to carry her, despite the distance being over many mountains. Arriving at her home, the woman thanks Ivan, noting how handsome he must be. Ivan thinks she is mocking him, but she explains that she is blind. Returning to the woods where he and Nastenka first met, Ivan finds the old woman's walking stick and vows to return it. Nearby, Starichok-Borovichok is pleased at his selflessness and restores Ivan to human form. The stick then vanishes.
Step-Mom tries to marry off Ugly Step-Sister
Meanwhile, the evil stepmother is trying to marry off Marfushka. After dressing her up in fine clothes, covering her in makeup and attaching a false braid on to Marfushka's head, she forces Nastenka to wear a rag over her head and puts mud on her face to make her ugly. A wealthy suitor comes and asks Marfushka, who has never done a day's work in her life, to prepare a meal for him. While chasing geese into a pond, Marfushka nearly drowns until she is rescued by Nastenka. In the process, Marfushka's braid and makeup wash away and Nastenka's beauty is revealed. The suitor and his mother choose Nastenka for a bride instead. Nastenka's stepmother won't allow this, so she orders her husband to take Nastenka to the woods. On the way, the father decides he's had enough of his wife's bullying and vows to bring Nastenka back home. Believing her stepmother will be even more cruel to him for doing so, Nastenka jumps off the back of his sleigh. There, she encounters Morozko (aka "Father Frost") bringing winter to the woods. Touched by her kindness, Morozko rescues her from freezing to death and brings her to his home.
The Old Witch
Ivan is searching for Nastenka and he meets Baba-Yaga, whom he asks to help find Nastenka. She refuses, and after a short battle of wills with her moving house, she animates a group of trees to kill Ivan. After nearly being cooked alive, Ivan tricks her and threatens to bake the witch in her own oven until she tells him how to find Nastenka. After he leaves, the angry Baba-Yaga sends her black cat to cause Nastenka's death before Ivan can reach her. The enchanted sled sent by the Baba-Yaga to show Ivan the way to Nastenka leaves him trapped in a snowbank. While Father Frost is running some errands, the cat tricks Nastenka into accidentally touching his staff, which freezes her.
Nastenka's father and her dog sense that she is in trouble. The stepmother and Marfushka prevent the father from leaving, but the dog escapes and rescues Ivan from freezing in the snow. They both arrive at Morozko's home to find Nastenka frozen. Ivan pleads for forgiveness for his behavior towards her. The power of love overcomes the staff's power, and Nastenka is restored. To celebrate, Morozko gives Nastenka and Ivan a large dowry of jewels and a horse-driven sleigh for their impending nuptials.
Nastenka and Ivan get married and live happily ever after.
They return to the village, where Nastenka's father welcomes Ivan as his son-in-law, but the stepmother becomes envious and the greedy Marfushka sees their fortune and demands the same. Marfushka tries to duplicate Nastenka's adventure in the snowbound forest, where Morozko is so horrified by her rudeness that he sends her back on a pig-driven sleigh with a box full of crows as a dowry. With the stepmother humiliated after bragging that she would return with treasure, Nastenka's father is able to stand up for himself and regain his place as head of the household.
On their way to Ivan's home, Ivan and Nastenka are accosted by the bandits he'd encountered before. They are now being helped by Baba-Yaga. After being overpowered, they are saved when their clubs from earlier fall on the bandits' heads. Ivan and Nastenka then trap the witch in her own giant mortar. The couple has a sumptuous wedding, and live happily ever after.
Cast[]
- Eduard Izotov as Ivan
- Natalya Sedykh as Nastenka
- Aleksandr Khvylya as Morozko/Grandfather Frost
- Inna Churikova as Marfusha
- Georgiy Millyar as Baba-Yaga/Hunchback Fairy
Notes[]
- No Producer is credited for this film.
- The actress Natalya Sedykh was born in 1948, so she was 16 or 17 years old when she filmed this movie.
- The film is a mish-mash of various Slavic fairy tales and folklore, often omitting huge portions of the original stories in order to place certain characters or scenes into specific places within the movie. The "hunchback fairy" is a depiction of the infamous Baba Yaga, one of the most iconic villains from Eastern European folklore (though she can be helpful if it's in her best interests, as depicted in this film). Similarly, Ivan is a depiction of Ivan the Fool, a stock character in Russian folklore known for his luck and guileless simplicity. Morozko (also known as Ded Moroz) is a wizard of winter that brings snow and frost, similar to Jack Frost (where the dubbed movie pulled its name). Starting in the USSR, he was propagated as a non-religious replacement for Santa Claus and continues that role in modern day Russia and a number of former Soviet and Eastern Bloc states.
- The movie is mostly based off the Russian fairy tale "Morozko", which is alternatively known as "Father Frost". The girl in that fairy tale is not specifically named. The name Nastenka (as well as Nastya) is a Slavic alternate to the name Anastasia.
- The song Father Frost is singing when he first appears is "В лесу роди́лась ёлочка" ("A Spruce Was Born in the Forest"), the most popular Christmas song in Russia and one of the few still permitted in the USSR due to its non-secular content.
Riffed Versions[]
MST3K Connections[]
- Georgiy Millyar also portrayed a sorcerer in The Day the Earth Froze.
- Valentin Bryleev (eligible bachelor) also had an unspecified role in The Day the Earth Froze.