The Wild Swans (1987)

Director
Helle Karis

Main cast
Katri Horma; Juris Zagars; Andris Zagars; Ines Aru; Gunnar Kilgas

Genres
Fantasy

Description
A little known adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Wild Swans" about a princess who rescues her eleven brothers from a spell cast by an evil queen. Once upon a time, a King had eleven sons and one daughter. When his wife, the Queen, died, the King remarried. The new wife and the children's stepmother looks beautiful on the outside, but actually she's an evil witch. She sends the young princess Eliise to live in the village as an ordinary peasant girl and turns all the princes into wild swans. The princes are stuck being swans all day long and only at night can they regain their true form. When Eliise is 15 years old, she learns about the fate of her brothers and now she must overcome the obstacles put in her way by her stepmother in order to release her brothers from the spell.


Similar movies

In this wistful fantasy, a beautiful teenage girl is sent to a country house for her health, where befriends and attempts to civilize a feral boy she discovers on the grounds — but the beast inside him is constantly waiting to burst out. (TIFF)
A lonesome man at the threshold of death finds himself trapped in a place called the Endless.
During the Cold War, an organization called "Patriot" created a super-hero squad, which includes members of multiple soviet republics. For years, the heroes had to hide their identities, but in hard times they must show themselves again.
By mistake, film director Ham Chunsu arrives in Suwon a day early. With time to kill before his lecture the next day, Chunsu stops by a restored, old palace and meets an artist named Yoon Heejung. Together, they go to Heejung’s workshop to look at her paintings, have Sushi with Soju for dinner, and get close. Later, they go to another café and have more drinks with Heejung’s acquaintances. When asked if he is married, Chunsu is forced to reveal the fact that he is, and Heejung gets deeply disappointed… In the second part of the film, a similar story of “meeting and parting” unfolds. Here, the woman’s voice seems intimidated and her body crouched. The man and the woman go about to the same places, but this time the man strips himself and what not.
Rocky must come out of retirement to battle a gargantuan Soviet fighter named Drago, who brutally punished Rocky's friend and former rival, Apollo Creed. Seeking revenge in the name of his fallen comrade and his country, Rocky agrees to fight Drago in Moscow on Christmas, and the bout changes both fighters -- and the world.
Joseph Galloudec seven years, lives in the eighteenth floor of a building in the Paris suburbs, between his mother Julia and her father Jean-Claude, a computer engineer and communist militant. His parents experiencing marital problems and his mother soon to give birth, he left for the summer holidays with his grandparents and three uncles, turbulent triplets. He discovers the castles of the Loire, Brittany and England. Upon his return, he met his sister Elisa, but her parents and tear her mother eventually left the home.
A drama based on Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets had some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.
Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns to America as an advocate of Stalinism.
Rita, a hairdresser with a sharp wit, is married to Denny, and at 26 doesn't want a baby. She wants to discover herself -son she joins the Open University. Dr. Frank Bryant Is a disillusioned university professor of literature. His marriage has failed, his girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. He refers to himself as an appalling teacher of appalling students. What Frank needs is a challenge ... along comes Rita. In this hilarious and often moving drama, the story tells how two people find a now lease of life through each other.
Darrell is a well trained prison bitch looking forward to a night alone in his cell getting jacked on the drugs he's had smuggled in, when a riot erupts on the floors above. To separate the offenders, three of the inmates are placed in Darrell's cell. Always up for a laugh, Darrell teases, flirts and annoys his fellow cellies Seth & Lanks, until a new boy is placed with them and becomes prey to these wild animals. Nothing short of offensive and disgusting, these boys are savage and hell bent on abusing, insulting, and degrading each other throughout the night. 4 Boys, One Room, & Pure Hell in the Cell, this trashy British arthouse, throwback captures the reality of the 80s.
During the war in Afghanistan a Soviet tank crew commanded by a tyrannical officer find themselves lost and in a struggle against a band of Mujahadeen guerrillas in the mountains.
A woman turns her sister's belated birthday celebration into an intervention, but as events unfold, it becomes unclear which sibling needs the most help.
Based on true events, an American submarine collides into a Soviet sub of the coast of America and an ensuing standoff occurs that could lead to total annihilation.
When a Soviet nuclear sub headed toward American waters drops off U.S. scanners, the Yanks scramble to take defensive steps. But CIA analyst Jack Ryan convinces the brass that the sub's commander has something other than a first strike in mind. A perilous cat-and-mouse game ensues.
One Man's Hero tells the little-known story of the "St. Patrick's Battalion" or "San Patricios," a group of mostly Irish and other immigrants of the Catholic faith who deserted to Mexico after encountering religious and ethnic prejudice in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War. The plot centers around the personal story of John Riley, an Irishman who had been a sergeant in the American Army who is commissioned as a captain in the Mexican army and commands the battalion, as he leads his men in battle and struggles with authorities on both sides of the border
In this hit Russian musical, a group of friends flaunts Soviet authority in 1950s Moscow by embracing jazz. When Communist Mels falls for Polly, a free-spirited jazz fan, he risks losing his party membership by associating with her rebellious crew.
Julian, who runs a Thai boxing club as a front organization for his family's drug smuggling operation, is forced by his mother Jenna to find and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death.
The life and career of the brutal Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin.
When Marie, a widow in Provence with two daughters, locks her bedroom door and goes to sleep, she dreams about Marty, a literary agent in Manhattan who dreams equally vividly about Marie. The women look alike. Marie meets William who begins to court her. Marty meets Aaron, an accountant, becomes his friend and then his lover. Both women tell their lovers about their dream life. William is jealous, Aaron is accepting. Even though they've become lovers, Marie won't fall asleep next to William. Marie goes on holiday with William to Paris, and Marty wakes up with an ashtray from the hotel on her night stand. Are they the same person? What will unlock reality
The haunted Captain of a Soviet submarine holds the fate of the world in his hands. Forced to leave his family behind, he is charged with leading a covert mission cloaked in mystery.
Pianomania takes the audience on a humorous journey through the secret world of sound and accompanies Stefan Knüpfer in his extraordinary work with the greatest pianists in the world. To select the instrument that corresponds to the vision of the virtuoso, according it to his desire and accompany him until he goes on stage, Stefan Knüpfer has developed nerves of steel, a boundless passion and above ability to translate words into sounds.
Combat has taken its toll on Rambo, but he's finally begun to find inner peace in a monastery. When Rambo's friend and mentor Col. Trautman asks for his help on a top secret mission to Afghanistan, Rambo declines but must reconsider when Trautman is captured.
A beautiful young escort, Paul, suffers from trip-like dreams he doesn't understand. These visions are shared by his clients, both scaring and exciting them. Paul is searching for his twin brother, whom he hasn't seen since childhood, and hooks up with enigmatic film director John Baxter. Desired by everyone but lost to himself, Paul is persuaded to make one adult film, which will help him discover himself, and in the process find his twin. But the journey he goes on is a dark one, involving dangerous clients, an unscrupulous rival producer, and unsafe sex. In discovering his true past, Paul is in danger of destroying himself.
It is the mid-1980s. From out of the sky, Soviet and Cuban troops begin landing on the football field of a Colorado high school. In seconds, the paratroops have attacked the school and sent a group of teenagers fleeing into the mountains. Armed only with hunting rifles, pistols and bows and arrows, the teens struggles to survive the bitter winter and Soviet KGB patrols hunting for them.
A series of unexplainable accidents befall the people and companies responsible for developing the world's first supersonic airliner. A British agent is sent to investigate and with the help of another agent uncovers a plot masterminded by Carl Petersen who stands to gain eight million pounds if the aircraft is not ready by a certain date.
A tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord who killed his partner and fled the country.
The Angelic Conversation is a lyrical, haunting film about a young man’s search for love, in a dreamlike landscape. Offscreen, Dame Judi Dench recites a sequence of Shakespeare sonnets, that counterpoint the action. Jarman called it, “My most austere work, but also the closest to my heart.”
An example of ironic Soviet propagandistic film from the silent era, this film chronicles the adventures of an American, "Mr. West," and his faithful bodyguard and servant Jeddie, as they visit the land of the horrible, evil Bolsheviks. Through various mishaps, Mr. West discovers that the Soviets are actually quite remarkable people, and, by the end of the film, his opinion of them has changed to one of glowing admiration! Written by Mark Toscano
Charlie Berns (William H. Macy) is a veteran Hollywood movie producer who has given up on his career and life. That is until his idealistic screenwriter nephew (Jason Ritter) comes bearing the script of a lifetime and Charlie decides to give his career one final shot. The only thing standing in his way is Diedre Hearn (Meg Ryan), a sharp-witted studio executive brought in to keep Charlie in line.
A Soviet cargo ship carrying medical opium gets attacked by pirates of an unknown nationality. The crew is left to die on a sinking ship but they manage to escape and now must fight the pirates for survival.
A nearly wordless visual narrative intercuts two main stories and a couple of minor ones. A woman, perhaps the Madonna, brings forth her baby to a crowd of intrusive paparazzi; she tries to flee them. Two men who are lovers marry and are arrested by the powers that be. The men are mocked and pilloried, tarred, feathered, and beaten. Loose in this contemporary world of electrical-power transmission lines is also Jesus. The elements, particularly fire and water, content with political power, which is intolerant and murderous.
US military leaders plot to overthrow the President because he supports a nuclear disarmament treaty and they fear a Soviet sneak attack.
Nazi POWs suspected of heinous acts are locked up in a Soviet women's prison run by vengeful female guards. To weed out the guilty, the innocent must pay. Can supposed enemies turn into great loves? Based on a true post-World War II story, this drama stars Thomas Kretschmann, John Malkovich and Vera Farmiga in a bitter game of cat and mouse and a battle between hate and humanity, mercy and revenge.
Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980's.
In spring 1938 in the mountains in the north of Chile a fiery UFO, later named "Chilean Sphere ", fell down. The investigation of this episode, made by a film crew, has led to a sensational discovery. It appeared that before the Second World War (in the thirties) in the USSR a secret space program had been developed. The Soviet scientists and military authorities managed to launch the first spacecraft 23 years prior to Jury Gagarin's flight! "The First on the Moon" tells about everyday life, heroic deeds and tragedy of the first group of the Soviet cosmonauts. It is the first Russian film shot in a very rare genre 'mockumentary' or 'documentary fiction'.
An eerie German silent film from 1920. This classic expressionistic film is known as a landmark in film history becoming famous worldwide from it’s exceptional new wave style of well built and painted grotesque scenery with contrasted lighting along with the painted effect of light and shadows. The film tells a surrealistic story with an unusual end that was the subject of controversy.
A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941.
In a Japanese version of "Oedipus Rex," a gay son murders his mother and sleeps with his father.
September of 1944, a few days before Finland went out of the Second World War. A chained to a rock Finnish sniper-kamikadze Veikko managed to set himself free. Ivan, a captain of the Soviet Army, arrested by the Front Secret Police 'Smersh', has a narrow escape. They are soldiers of the two enemy armies. A Lapp woman Anni gives a shelter to both of them at her farm. For Anni they are not enemies, but just men.
An erotic poem set in the fantasies of a young male prostitute.
A war drama set during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, in which Russian troops held on to a border stronghold for nine days. The film shows the heroic defense of Brest Fortress, which has taken upon the first stroke of German fascist invaders on June 22 1941.
A few decades after the destruction of the Inca empire, a Spanish expedition leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon river in search of gold and wealth. Soon, they come across great difficulties and Don Aguirres, a ruthless man who cares only about riches, becomes their leader. But will his quest lead them to "the golden city", or to certain destruction
Soviet agent Fedotov is air-dropped into Nazi occupied land. He changes over into Mr. Ekhert, a German entrepreneur wishing to take advantage of eastern worker slave labor in occupied Ukraine. Ekhert (Fedotov) enters into a partnership with a German entrepreneur who's son, Willie, is a high ranking Nazi. Together they go to Vinnitsa, Ukraine and start a factory. Fedotov begins seeking contacts with headquarters, but faces problems when a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator manages to infiltrate the Soviet partisans.
"In Serieux comme le plaisir, two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy anyway, so the trio doesn't worry much about money. One day they decide to take a trip in their beat-up car, managing the whole affair in their own special, insouciant manner. They are followed by a suspicious policeman who thinks there's something fishy about this group..."
The Man Who Saved the World is feature documentary film about Stanislav Petrov, a former lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces.
A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. Slowly, her ritualized daily routines begin to fall apart.
Eric O'Neill, a computer specialist who wants to be made an agent is assigned to clerk for Robert Hanssen, a senior agent with 25 years in the FBI, and to write down everything Hanssen does. O'Neill's told it's an investigation of Hanssen's sexual habits, however Hanssen is really suspected of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for years and being responsible for the deaths of agents working for the United States.
Allegedly based on a true incident reported on page 7 of a local newspaper, the film was a scathing satire on the corruption in the judicial system and the victimization of the underprivileged by the able and the powerful.
When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.
Based on Margaret Atwood's best seller, Surfacing plunges you into the mysterious depths of the hostile Northern wilderness. Following her father's puzzling disappearance, Kate (Kathleen Beller), and her city-bred companions brave the untamed backwoods in a desperate search for him. However, the harsh environment becomes a dangerous catalyst for their explosive mix of personalities, propelling them into a world of raw emotion and unbridled passion. Directed by Claude Jutra, screenplay by Bernard Gordon.
Set in Stalin-era Soviet Union, a disgraced MGB agent is dispatched to investigate a series of child murders -- a case that begins to connect with the very top of party leadership.
Olga and Ruth become friends. Olga is independent, separated from her husband, living with an immigrant pianist, and teaching feminist literature. Ruth is withdrawn, a painter, possibly mentally ill. Ruth dreams in black and white, sometimes of her suicide. Olga lectures on a 19th-century writer, von Günderrode, a suicide after the breakup of her intense friendship with Bettina Brentano. Ruth's husband Franz encourages the women's friendship, then, as Olga draws Ruth out and the friendship deepens, he becomes jealous. After the women travel to Egypt, Franz has a tirade. Ruth seems crushed between her husband and her friend, and how she responds is the film's climax.
When in 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, their troops quickly besieged Leningrad. Foreign journalists are evacuated but one of them, Kate Davies, is presumed dead and misses the plane. Alone in the city she is helped by Nina Tsvetnova a young and idealist police officer and together they will fight for their own survival and the survival of the people in the besieged Leningrad. Written by Marcio Eduardo
A Dutch documentary film about Robert Bresson.
Without hostile intent, a Soviet sub runs aground off New England. Men are sent for a boat, but many villagers go into a tizzy, risking bloodshed.
Stan, screeplay writer, had his time of glory in Hollywood. Today, alcoholic with a certain envy for suicide, his only link to life is his daughter, Charlotte.
The story takes place on the desert planet "Pluke" in the "Kin-dza-dza" galaxy, where two Soviet humans previously unknown to each other ("Uncle Vova", a gruff construction foreman from Moscow, and "The Fiddler", a student from Georgia) are stranded due to an accidental encounter with an alien teleportation device. The movie describes their long quest to find a way back home.
When a nuclear missile is launched by presumably Soviet forces toward Turkey, the beginning of the ultimate war to end all wars WW 3 is started. Powers Boothe, his girlfriend and copilot Rebecca DeMornay and their flight crew take off in a B 52 on what they believe is just another drill only to find out that this is the real deal.
Sammohanam tells the story of a mysteriously seductive girl, Pennu (Archana) in a quiet village to which she has temporarily relocated, in search of her missing grandfather, Karuvan Valyachan. She creates a strange chasm among male folks, breaking marriages and old friendships.

© Valossa 2015–2024