The film follows two orphans, a sister and her younger brother, separated when the youngest is stolen for his magical ability to feel gold, something which at the same time tortures the young boy. The sister runs, looks, even sees him at a distance, but her struggles only continues. Luckily she gets aide from a philosopher and healer, who in many ways serves as the film's main comic relief, but his journey is not a happy one either. From the very beginning, as the camera closed in on the town, as the music played, as the colors exploded, I knew I would love this film. Almost every frame was perfect, and they drew up the magical world we are visiting in the most perfect way imaginable. This is a beautifully dark and twisted fairytale, in the way only Eastern Europeans can make them. It created it's own world with an amazing eye for details, and managed to be absurd and funny, at the same time as it told a very, very bleak story. It could be described as an odyssey, a tragic chase, a voyage into strange lands, and visions we will see. And beyond it all, there is color. Nearly every image seems perfectly crafted. The full glory of soviet cinematography. It was so masterly directed and shot I bookmarked all films directed by Aleksandr Mitta, and even looked into other films by the cinematographer, Valeri Shuvalov. Two names I had never heard of before. This was a truly amazing discovery, and I can't wait to search out more.

I first saw "Skazka Stranstviy" in my early teens. Loved it but waited almost ten years to see it again. The film is brilliant, and invokes a lot of emotions and thoughts. Until I was adult it was too dark and too deep to comprehend and deal with. I definitely wouldn't recommend showing it to children. But for adults it's a must see. Every time I've seen it I've ended up crying through most of the film. Especially touching are the part where Orlando dies, and the end when Mai draws the diagram in the ruins. While dark and disturbing, the film provokes thoughts and emotions that modern films fail to touch. Like one reviewer mentioned it's a true classic fairytale. Not a Utopian fairytale we're used to in United states, but a true dark fantasy. The score is wonderful and adds on to the overall mood of the film. While the whole film is dark and gloomy, the end is very beautiful and hopeful.At the time I first saw it, I just became a sister. So for me, at the time the plot and the story were particularly real and threatening. I wouldn't let my baby brother out of my sight after seeing the film. I could understand what Martha was feeling when she lost her brother, and the end of the film provoked thoughts on what I would feel if my brother grew up to be an individual I wouldn't be proud of. Even with all the fantasy involved, the film is really easy to connect to.

I have not seen this wonderful movie for almost twenty years but my dear friend sent me last night the links to some scenes that feature the soaring score by incomparable Alfred Schnitke and watching them for over and over took me back in time to the world that has gone but always stays with me - the world of memory. I was surprised how well I remember "Skazka Stranstviy". I even remember how I watched it for the first time in the Moscow Theater, and how unusual, dark, scary, philosophical yet uplifting it was. Its look reminds the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Hieronymus Bosch at their gloomiest and grimmest. Its spirit is not always optimistic or suited for young children but Tale of the Voyages is dramatic, intense, even tragic but always poetic, moving, and spiritual - not unlike Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the voyages, "The Snow Queen". "Skazka Stranstviy" is the story of a young brave girl Martha and her search for the lost little brother Mai who possessed a gift (or a curse) of finding the buried treasures and who was kidnapped by the villains many years ago. On her long search, Martha becomes friends with a poet, visionary, and genius inventor Orlando, and together they would visit many dangerous places and encounter disasters and miracles including plague, betrayal, fears, loyalty, courage, flying, and death... It's been said a lot about Alfred Schnitke's truly breathtaking score which makes you want to fly so high that not even the "highest-flying birds of memory" and regrets could reach you. I read from the other reviews that that this skazka is not a regular fairy tale - it depends on what we call a fairy tale. If you think of them, fairy tales, the unabridged versions of them are often scary, graphic, disturbing, violent, bloody, gory, and fascinating. Brothers Grimm's, Hans Christian Anderson's, Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, myths and legends of ancient Greece - there are elements of pure horror and tragedy in these fairly tales. "Skazka Stranstviy" reminds more of these classics rather than their Disney's adaptations, and that makes it unforgettable watching (and sound) experience that the viewers remember many years after they saw it and want to compare their impressions as adults with those from their childhood. Andrei Mironov (Orlando) proved once again what huge talent he possessed and how much he could've done had he not died untimely at the age of 46 in 1987.

This movie is supposed to be a fairytale. Is not. I saw it some years ago and I tell you: it's really dark, dark fantasy. The plague, personalized as a female beggar or beautiful lady brought me several nightmares. Well, this movie is really good! But don't allow your children watch it!