Inspirations: Tale of Tales, by Yuri Norstein

Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 is a big, beautiful novel. The writing is startling- literally. I was constantly, audibly, (annoyingly) yelping with surprise and delight. After reading it this summer, I've been telling anyone who will stand still long enough what a wonderful book it is. I can not, however, coherently explain what on earth it's about. Murakami is masterful at blending the banal with the fantastic; there are so many gritty, dreamy layers of nuance and complexity that untangling the central plot becomes not only impossible, but ultimately beside the point. 

 I have the same trouble explaining Russian animator Yuri Norstein's 1979 film, Tale of Tales. Luckily, while it has been difficult to convince people that they "just have to read!" all 1000+ pages of Murakami's novel, I've managed to force all 29 magical minutes of Tale of Tales on a few defenseless friends. 

The link to the interview with Norstein below reveals some of the motivations behind his imagery. However, I confess that I could not make myself read it, and I probably never will. This film is a mysterious spell I that am quite happy to let stay magical. 

http://www.animatormag.com/archive/issue-28/issue-28-page-14/