A Tale of Lost Times (1964)

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A TALE OF LOST TIMES is an oddball Russian comedy with a fantasy twist. The story is about a group of wizards who decide to transform some students into old-timers, and vice versa. What this entails is a whole lot of mugging on the part of the actors involved, along with plenty of fake white hair and facial hair. The film that follows is tinged with slapstick comedy involving dogs and pratfalls, with a highlight involving various high-profile escapades on a building site. The acting and FX are limited, but if you were there at the time, this would have been fitfully funny.

Do you know that every time you waste precious time there is an evil magician somewhere near you sweeping the minutes and hours you loose into his bag ? No ? Curious what evil magicians do with your wasted minutes and hours ? Then watch "The tale of wasted time" and don't be afraid that the time of watching this movie will be wasted. It's a very gently and kindly told story explaining to kids that wasted time is not only forever lost time, but is a food for all sort of misconstruction in social life. A light, fairy tale, using fairy tale language to explain important and serious existential thing (which explaining to kids otherwise would require a tedious and dull notation) movie. I remember this story was influencing me just right when I was a kid. How ? Watch it for incredible story twists.

I have not disliked any of Aleksandr Ptushko's films, my least favourite is The New Gulliver but that is still a very good film and is of historical significance. All of them show an imaginative visual master who clearly puts a lot of work and care as well as heart into what he does. (As I've said before, don't be put off by the movies of his featured on MST3K, they are entertaining and beautifully made films that are ruined by the American dubbing) While I put Stone Flower, The Tale of Tsar Sultan and Scarlet Sails out it, The Tale of Lost Times is a lovely film. Like all of Ptushko's films, it is a beautiful film to look it with charming sets and above average effects, maybe it lacks the epic wonder of Sadko, Sampo, Ruslan and Ludmilla and Ilya Muromets(the three films I've listed as my favourites from Ptushko are gentler and perhaps more compassionate) but it's not that kind of film and what there is is done creatively. The music score is rousing, even if non-Russian speakers don't completely understand the language from the way the drama's done, the gestures and how the dialogue is said you do get the gist of what is being said(which is more than enough) and the acting is appealing and appropriate for the characters, maybe a little broad at times but it fitted at least with the comedy aspects. The comedy is funny and gently nostalgic, the mid-twentieth century parts of the story are done with a witty and positive human nature and the fantasy elements are as wondrous as you'd expect from Ptushko. The Tale of Lost Times also has a message, but it is one that you learn from and I didn't once feel that I was being talked down to. The characters are good, the heroes are likable but also have flaws while the villains are deliciously evil. Overall, a lovely film and one of Ptushko's better ones. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Very Good movie for kids. Funny,very educational. Recommend for kids from 6 to 10. I wish this movie could be translated in English and shown in schools.