Old Khottabych

Old Khottabych

Modern DVD cover of the film
Directed by Gennadiy Kazansky
L. Mahtin
Written by Lazar Lagin
Based on Old Khottabych by Lazar Lagin
Starring Nikolai Volkov
Alexey Litvinov
Gennady Khudyakov
Music by Nadejda Simonyan
Cinematography M. Shurukov
Production
company
Release dates
 1956
Running time
 86 min.
Country Soviet Union
Language Russian

Old man Hottabych (Russian: Старик Хоттабыч, Starik Khottabych) is a fantasy comedy film produced in the USSR by Lenfilm in 1956 based on a children's book of the same name by Lazar Lagin. In the USA, the book was published under the title The Flying Carpet (only for manner without Russian word Hottabych).

The film is also known as Starik Khottabych (Soviet original title) and Old Man Khottabych.

Plot summary

Vovka, a 12-year-old Soviet Young Pioneer, discovers an ancient vessel at the bottom of a river. When he opens it, a genie emerges. He calls himself Hassan Abdul-rahman ibn Khattab, but Vovka renames him Khottabych. The grateful Khottabych is ready to fulfill any of Vovka's wishes, but it becomes clear that Vovka should use the powers of the genie carefully, for they can have some unforeseen undesirable results.

History

The novel is obviously influenced by the tale of Aladdin and his magical lamp, and it was quite popular with Soviet kids.

There were two major versions of the novel - the original was published in 1938, and a revised version followed in 1955. This later version was the basis of the 1956 film. Revisions to the novel were made by Lagin himself in order to incorporate the changes taking place in the USSR and the rest of the world into the narrative. The newer version also includes some ideological anti-capitalistic elements. The original edition has been republished in the Post-Soviet era.

In 2006, a modern film remake was made. It was called Khottabych. This remake has little in common with the first film, except for the central plot point of finding a genie in a clay vessel, and the central theme of how times have changed, as is emphasized by this very lack of commonality (as well as various anachronism-based humor, like wished-for hundred dollar bills appearing printed on ancient papyrus, a makeover that puts the venerable djinn inside a flashy tracksuit, or the so-old-it's-hip-again luxury Soviet vehicle driven by the protagonists).

Crew

Awards

Trivia

Video

The Film Released on DVD in Russia to 2004. The disc contains 3x Menu's Languages, 4x Spoken Languages to Dolby Digital 5.1: Russian Original, English Voice-over, French and Arabic Dubbed Languages; Subtitles on a Russian, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Swedish, German, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese languages: also Special Features: "Monologue in the Intermission", "Another Genie", Filmography and Photo Album.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ (Russian) Flibusta.net—«Старик Хоттабыч», глава II
  2. ↑ "Yesterday, a pioneer named Vladimir Kostylkov came to his district militia station and handed the officer on duty a treasure consisting of antique gold objects which he found on the bottom of the river, in a very deep place. The treasure has been handed over to the Historical Museum. According to reliable sources, Vladimir Kostylkov is an excellent diver."
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