I have a special place in my heart for films like Aleksandr Rou's Jack Frost. The film is a re-telling of a classic Russian fairy tale about a young maiden named Nastenka who slaves under the cruel rule of her step-mother and step-sister. She is eventually cast out into the woods to die where she is rescued by Father Frost, a sprite of winter. After being rescued she touches his staff which "freezes her forever." Her story is inter-cut with the misadventures of Ivan, a brash young lad whose head is turned into that of a bear after disrespecting a forest spirit named Father Mushroom. To reverse the spell, he has to perform a good deed. After helping an old blind lady gathering firewood, he is restored. It is then up to Ivan to save Nastenka from her eternal sleep. Now, Jack Frost has some obvious short-comings. For one, it utilizes inferior special effects. For another, the acting is occasionally very wooden and hokey. But I'm willing to forgive the film for that due to the fact that I watched an English dub. There is an inescapable charm to Jack Frost. It has rightfully been heralded as a Christmas classic in parts of Eastern Europe where it is shown on television each year around Christmas time. It may seem amateurish for Western viewers who have been spoiled for decades by Hollywood and high production values. But Jack Frost has something that many Western films lack: sincere joy and purity in the execution of a simple fairy tale.
6/10
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