Dziadek do orzechów (1967)

I had heard that there was a Nutcracker film in Poland, but I never got around to checking it out. ... Until now.

Dziadek do orzechów was released in 1967 and uses stop motion and other camera tricks when special effects are needed.

Like yesterday's German offering, I don't understand Polish, and this time, I had no summary, just what was going on onscreen and familiarity with the source material to go on. So, while I was able to follow the story, I can't comment on the dialogue. Which is a pity, because with some caveats, it looks like this one really tried to follow Hoffmann's story faithfully.

Before the credits start (it was one of those that had the credits before the movie starts), the movie is introduced by none other than E.T.A. Hoffmann, or at least actor Wienczyslaw Glinski portraying him with a voiceover and posing for various photographs, which move around on a wall. In the opening, you also hear some of the score, which uses no music from the ballet.

The film opens in Drosselmeyer's workshop, with a few stop-motion effects making him look magical. One of the few outdoor scenes shows him walking to the Stahlbaum home, then levitating to the second story window. He's also played by Wienczyslaw Glinski. And no, he doesn't have an eyepatch.

Then the classic story starts proper as Marie and Friz wait to see the Christmas tree and have their presents. When they do, there's a choir of children singing. The story flows much the same as in the book, except there are guests present. It seems Louise may be present, but without subtitles or being able to understand the language, I'm not sure who she was. Drosselmeyer brings a mechanical castle, Marie gets the Nutcracker, Fritz damages it, and it's put in a doll bed, with Marie even apologizing to one of her dolls for making use of it.

When the Mouse King arrives, we see he only has two heads. As he, the mice and the toys are animated via stop-motion, I'll forgive the lack of the other five heads as I assume it was easier to handle.

A little moment from Hoffmann I don't believe I've seen in any other adaptations is present as when the Nutcracker gets up to fight, Marie's doll begs him to not fight, and even to take her token, but he tells her he is already carrying one for another as his bandage is a ribbon Marie gave him.

The battle scene is nicely done for what it is. It's not the most thrilling of stop-motion battle scenes, but it tells the story and uses a nice arrange of soldiers and mice.

When Marie is laid up in bed, Drosselmeyer enters magically through a wall and even at one point appears inside a bird cage. The Story of the Hard Nut is told in one go with Marie's mother and Fritz present. The story is told extremely faithfully to Hoffmann's text, even including a bit where one of the court is bitten by the baby Princess Pirlipat. There's just one thing: the entire cast of characters are played by children. The affair of the sausages seems to have one alteration, the Mouse Queen steals most of the sausages rather than eating up the fat. There is also a humorous bit in which a courtier steps on a mouse trap. In a twist, it seems the Mouse Queen survives the story but threatens that her son will get revenge as the two-headed Mouse King is seen leaving Pirlipat's crib after she's cursed.

Nearly keeping instep with Hoffmann's text, even the scene in which young Drosselmeyer and the astrologer give up is set inside in a room with trees printed on the wallpaper and potted plants around them. The scene where they meet Drosselmeyer's cousin, however, is supposed to be set outside, but still looks like a set on a stage. In a nice touch, the first scene with the nephew shows him cracking nuts with his teeth with a sister handing him nuts and another one taking the kernels. Later, when he breaks Pirlipat's curse, he slips backwards when the Mouse King kicks half of the Krakatuk nut's shell under his feet, and when he falls, it's a jump cut and he's gone and a stop-motion animated Nutcracker is in his place.

Marie is threatened by the Mouse King on three consecutive nights and has to give in to his demands so she can protect the Nutcracker, but she tells Fritz, who makes the suggestion that the family borrow the baker's cat, and this is displayed by a scene in which he and a woman visit the bakery. It was a bit odd to have a scene in a wildly different location.

Marie has conversations with the Mouse King that go on for quite a bit, but the filmmakers employ a few tricks with the Mouse King puppet, such as having him clinging to a curtain or even yawning.

Finally, Marie asks Fritz for a sword so the Nutcracker can fight the Mouse King, and Fritz agrees. While the Nutcracker does conquer the Mouse King and give Marie the crowns, if they visit his land, it is done entirely offscreen.

The family isn't picking up on Marie's stories, and she finally does confess her love for the Nutcracker. The restoration happens with the Nutcracker on the shelf, suddenly he is replaced by a very small nephew, then the next shot shows him at normal size stepping out from the cabinet doors. According to IMDb, the nephew is named "Amadeusz," which works as well as anything.

Amadeusz proposes to Marie, and they use the Mouse King's crowns as engagement rings. Then, they step through a wardrobe (shades of Narnia!) into a weird scene. It's a magical landscape, and they are semi-transparent, with a number of exposures overlaid. During this shot, Marie's blue dress is transfigured into a more elaborate white one. They leave, and then of all things, Marie's mother steps into the wardrobe, looks around in the strange landscape, then steps back out. The production wraps up with some final narration by Drosselmeyer in his workshop.

Overall, it's a lush, interesting production that does a number of unusual choices while largely sticking to Hoffmann's story. I just wish they could've actually done some scenes in the Land of Sweets and it would've nudged it just a bit closer to perfection. Still, if you're interested, I'd recommend checking it out. Especially if anyone can point me towards an English subtitled version.