The Spring Tale (Russian: Весенняя сказка) is a 1971 loose adaptation of The Snow Maiden by Alexander Ostrovsky and the opera of the same name by Nickolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Tropes featured in the film:
- Adaptational Karma: Inverted with Mizgir. In the play, after cruelly dumping Kupava and attempting to rape the Snow Maiden, he is tormented by wood spirits for the whole night and then kills himself in the following morning after the Snow Maiden dies. Here, the spirit chase is replaced simply by him running through the woods for a short while, and the ending keeps it ambiguous as to what happens to him. It's even possible the Snow Maiden doesn't die, which would mean he gets married to her and barely receives a slap on the wrist for everything he has done before.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Bobyl and Bobylikha, who in the play are a textbook case of Awful Wedded Life, get some Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other moments here, and both his drunkenness and her Domestic Abuse are downplayed. They are also slightly nicer to the Snow Maiden: in the play, they push her to milk her suitors for all the money they have and act as Shipping Torpedo for her and Lel due to the latter's poverty from the start, while here, these moments are cut and their Vicarious Gold Digger behavior only begins when fantastically rich Mizgir enters the picture, making it somewhat more understandable that they lose their heads over this much wealth.
- Adaptational Personality Change: Most of the time, Mizgir is very calm, dignified and composed, which is quite the difference from his explosive temper in the play and the other adaptations. It becomes extremely unsettling when he continues to speak calmly as he tries to rape the Snow Maiden.
- Adaptational Wimp: Coupled with Adaptational Dumbass. Instead of The Philosopher King, serene and majestic, Berendey is now bumbling and half-senile.
- Adapted Out:
- Grandfather Frost and the Wood Spirit, prominent secondary characters, aren't present in this film.
- Surprisingly averted with Yelena the Fair, Bermyata's wife who does nothing plot-relevant. It's the only major adaptation that includes her.
- Ambiguous Ending: It's not clear whether the Snow Maiden dies like in the original or not.
- Damsel out of Distress: When the Snow Maiden sees Lel isn't coming to her rescue, she manages to fight off Mizgir and run away from him by herself.
- Demoted to Extra: Spring Beauty, the Snow Maiden's mother, only appears for a single scene.
- Denser and Wackier: Includes a lot of comic moments that never happened in the play (such as a cheery animated sequence during the credits), and removes a lot of the darker ones (such as Grandfather Frost and Spring Beauty's marriage drama).
- Hair-Contrast Duo: As it has practically become the custom with the central Love Dodecahedron, the more ethereal Snow Maiden and Lel have blond hair while the more earthly Kupava and Mizgir have dark hair.
- Regal Ringlets: Yelena the Fair, The Good Chancellor's wife, has her hair styled in neat curls, a contrast to the rest of the women's braided or loose hair.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Bobylikha is a lot prettier than her husband.
- Virgin in a White Dress: As it's commonly done in the adaptations of the play and the opera, the innocent and naive Snow Maiden wears white.
