Scarlet Sails

Limited Edition

SCARLET SAILS (ALYE PARUSA), 1961, Mosfilm, 88 min.  An often-overlooked gem from Soviet fantasy master Aleksandr Ptushko (ILYA MUROMETS, RUSLAN & LUDMILA), SCARLET SAILS is a lovely paean to dreamers and the world of dreams, to outsiders and outcasts, rebels and sailors and storytellers – to those who live differently than the rest of us, no matter who tries to stop them.  Adapted from the novel by famed Russian author Alexander Grin, the film follows two parallel stories:  the first about Assol, daughter of an impoverished sailor (Ivan Pereverzev from SADKO and NEBO ZOVYOT).  As a young girl, an old storyteller predicts her destiny:  "One day the sun will shine upon a white ship with scarlet sails. The white ship will slice through the waves and move right towards you."  This shimmering dream sustains her into adulthood when she’s played by the luminous Anastasiya Vertinskaya (WAR & PEACE, THE AMPHIBIAN MAN).  The second story revolves around Arthur, the rebellious son of an aristocrat, who only dreams of shipwrecks, pirates and going off to sea – as an adult he’s played by popular Soviet actor Vasiliy Lanovoy (WAR & PEACE, ANNA KARENINA).  Ptushko’s films are filled with images of the sea and voyages, in SADKO, SAMPO and THE TALE OF TSAR SALTAN, and this is his most lyrical homage to the lore and lure of the ocean:  windmills framed in the darkening sky, bonfires flickering on cliffs, storm-tossed waves crashing to shore, faces bathed in red firelight like a Caravaggio painting.  SCARLET SAILS was Ptushko’s follow-up to SAMPO, and the two films are companion pieces in many ways, both brilliantly shot by the cinematography team of Gennadi Tsekavyj and Viktor Yakushev.  And we defy you not to weep at the film’s stunning climax, arguably the most purely emotional sequence in all of Ptushko’s filmography.  Beautifully restored by Mosfilm in 4K for its first-ever U.S. Blu-ray release by Deaf Crocodile, in association with Seagull Films.  In Russian with English subtitles.

Special Features

• 48-page booklet featuring new essays by Russian film historian Peter Rollberg and film critic Walter Chaw 

• New video conversation with Eisner Award-winning comics artist (Swamp Thing), film historian and author Stephen R. Bissette, and film critic and author Tim Lucas (Video Watchdog, Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark)

• New audio commentary by author & film historian Rich Johnson

• New visual essay by film historian Celeste de la Cabra

• Blu-ray authoring by Vital Passenger

• New cover art and graphic design by Beth Morris