Morozko

Morozko
One-sheet for Morozko
Directed by	Aleksandr Rou
Written by	Nikolai Erdman Mikhail Volpin
Starring	Alexander Khvylya Natalya Sedykh Eduard Izotov Inna Churikova Pavel Pavlenko Vera Altayskaya Georgy Millyar
Music by	Nikolai Budashkin
Cinematography	Dmitri Surensky
Production company	Gorky Film Studios
Distributed by	Gorky Film Studios (Soviet Union), Embassy Pictures (USA) Shout! Factory (2010,DVD)
Release date	1964
Running time	84 min
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Morozko (Russian: Морозко, Morózko) is a Soviet film made by Gorky Film Studio, originally released in 1964. It was based on a traditional Russian fairy tale Morozko.

A version with a new soundtrack was released in 1966 in the U.S. It was directed by Aleksandr Rou, and starred Eduard Izotov as Ivan, Natalya Sedykh as Nastenka, and Alexander Khvylya as Father Frost. The script was written by Nikolai Erdman. The soundtrack was composed by Nikolai Budashkin, who was inspired by the works of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

The lovely, humble Nastenka is despised by her stepmother who favors her own mean-spirited and ugly daughter, Marfushka, and her meek father is powerless to stop her. After forcing Nastenka to knit socks before the rooster crows (with Nastenka ultimately imploring the sun to go down again so she can have more time), Nastenka's stepmother gives Nastenka the tasks of feeding the chickens, watering the cattle, splitting wood, and sweeping the yard. We are then introduced to Ivan, who, finishing his chores, heads out into the woods after receiving some final words of guidance from his mother, such as not forgetting his mother, not harming the weak, and honoring those who are old. To all these pieces of advice Ivan off-handedly replies "Don't worry" repeatedly.

The story then cuts to a group of bandits in the middle of a version of "she loves me, she loves me not" replaced with the phrases "we will rob them, we will not rob them/we will eat them, we won't eat them/we will beat them, we will be beaten." While traveling in the woods, Ivan is accosted by these bandits. He quickly distracts them and tosses their wooden clubs so high in the air that he claims they won't fall down again until winter. Later, Ivan meets the elderly Starichok-Borovichok (eng. The Little Old Man - the Little Boletus) (Mikhail Yanshin), who playfully challenges Ivan to try and catch him, offering a prize if he does. Being able to turn invisible, Starichok-Borovichok soon wins and offers a contrite Ivan the prize anyway - a fine bow and quiver of arrows. However, when asked to bow before him in gratitude, Ivan boastfully declares "The bear may bow before you, but not Ivan" and leaves. Starichok-Borovichok remarks that the bear will indeed bow before him, but it would be Ivan's back that would bend.