Mermaid (1997) User Reviews

Fantasy and memory

[ackstasis · 7/10 · 6 October 2008]

I don't think I really need to tell you that 'Mermaid (1997)' is a visual masterpiece. This is, after all, Aleksandr Petrov, whose exquisite skill with oil paints on glass is unsurpassed by any animator ever to have worked in the medium {though I did recently discover a worthy rival in Alexei Karaev, with ''The Lodgers of an Old House (1987)'}. The wonderful thing about Petrov's work – from 'Cow (1989)' to 'My Love (2006)' – is that sense of timelessness about the animation, evoking the eternal bliss of our dreams and memories. However, his films are so focused upon visual storytelling that the stories themselves are often convoluted beyond comprehensibility, an issue not aided by Petrov's insistence upon adapting novel-length literature. The problem with 'Mermaid' is that it only allows itself ten minutes to develop a complex breadth of ideas, leaving the plot so vague and ambiguous as to be almost disposable. That said, this is not a film you're watching for its story, anyway.

An elderly monk, doomed to a life of solidarity after a lost love about whom he still dreams, is training a young apprentice by the riverside. This young boy is overjoyed to discover a beautiful mermaid residing beside his shack, and the pair spend much time playing merrily in the water. But the old monk senses in this mermaid the spirit of his lost love, and strictly forbids the friendship. Everything that tales place after this is a little hazy, but there's an almighty storm, a vicious swirl of wind and water and a conclusion that sees crude wooden crosses mournfully lining the shore. 'Mermaid' provided the second of four Oscar nominations for its famed animator, though it lost this particular statue to Pixar, whose 'Geri's Game (1997)' is incidentally my favourite short film from the studio. Petrov would, however, snare the Oscar a few years later with his masterpiece, 'The Old Man and the Sea (1999).' However unintelligible the story, this is a marvellous visual treat that is worth watching at least twice.

Hard to Follow But Darn Pretty

[ShortoftheWeek · 9/10 · 4 March 2008]

The narrative in Mermaid is somewhat muddled. The old monk has what must be considered a flashback 1/4 of the way through the film and then a dream 3/4 through, and frankly I'm a bit at a loss to try to explain either. Generally Petrov's storytelling is considered somewhat pedantic, despite or perhaps because he works entirely with literary adaptations, necessitating sometimes difficult omissions. Yet it's his art that he is famous for, and that is firmly on display in Mermaid. He is the most accomplished practitioner of a unique medium —he animates using oil paint on glass, using 2-to 3 layers to add depth to the images, animating new plates as the finished ones dry. It is a meticulous, yet beautiful technique that has won him much acclaim—3 previous Oscar nominations, including the win in 1999 for his adaptation of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea. That film was a huge technical step forward as he adapted his style to the unforgiving IMAX format with the help of the Canadian production house Pascal Blais.

While Mermaid did not win, it likewise was nominated for the Oscar in 1996. Mermaid is in some ways the perfection of Petrov's original technique before money, improved technology, and production teams lead to Old Man and the Sea and My Love. Indeed it was the success of Mermaid that enabled Petrov to receive the kind of corporate patronage that allowed those films to happen.

A work of animation art.

[punishmentpark · 8/10 · 28 January 2016]

Stunningly beautiful. This animation seems to be made of a large series of paintings, and in each painting there are some animated details. Story-wise, I could only make out that the old man had an affair before he got married long ago, and the woman of that affair comes back (as a mermaid) to haunt his son in the present day. It turns out that the young man is not his son, but an apprentice - the old man is a monk. I don't understand how he would have been married in that case, but I must have missed some details there.

Despite the fact that this an impeccable piece of animation, somehow not all of it worked for me. Maybe the subject matter stayed too much on the safe side of a fairly simple cautious tale, or even a fairytale, but I've very much enjoyed it nonetheless.

A big 8 out of 10 feels like the minimum rating I must give this.

Epic and like a moving tapestry

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 12 February 2008]

While I am a huge fan of Pixar and have complained in a few of my reviews when I felt some of their shorts were unfairly snubbed by the Oscars (especially for KNICK KNACK), here I actually think the winning short for 1998 (Pixar's GERI'S GAME) wasn't nearly as good a film as Petrov's MERMAID--which was also nominated but somehow came up short.

Russian director Aleksandr Petrov has been nominated for several Oscars for Best Animated Short Film--such as for THE COW and THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. Each features a style totally unlike any other studio, as Petrov's shorts are like little epic movies and moving tapestries combined. I am not exaggerating to say that his films are much more works of art than films--and you could never call them cartoons! I will try to describe the style, but frankly the only way to really appreciate them is to see one yourself. The artwork is like a painting that moves in a very fluid style--like the wind is pushing the scenes.

If you found the plot hard to follow, here is some help!!!

[ekutyavin · 10/10 · 26 April 2010]

A wonderful fantastic animation movie! I read some reviews here that describe Aleksandr Petrov's films as great on the eyes, but lacking good plot and being hard to follow. I have to disagree with this assessment! It's just that Aleksandr Petrov is Russian and in his animations there are allusions, characters, and motifs that are rooted in Russian culture and are much more familiar to a Russian person than a foreigner watching the cartoon. Non-Russians just may need a little outside help to understand the plot (just like people often read a libretto before watching an opera to make sure they understand the action happening on on stage).

!!!A warning that spoilers do follow from this point on!!! (Do not read beyond this point, if you do not want to read spoilers!) In this story there are two monks who live by the river. The old monk had sinned in his youth: he had romance with a young girl, had sex with her, but then married another woman thereby "dishonoring" the girl who loved him and trusted him. (We learn this from the flashbacks that the old monk has and how now he is praying to God and begging him for forgiveness of his old sins.) The dishonored girl committed suicide by drowning. The young girl's restless spirit had turned into a mermaid - an evil spirit who is out to take revenge on the injustice that was done to her in her life. She takes this revenge by seducing young men with her charms, and then leading them into the depth of the water and drowning them. (This kind of wandering evil-spirit of a girl who's life ended before her time due to cruelty of men is a common character in Russian folklore. She may appear innocent and charming, but that is just a ploy to trick the young man into following her.) Naturally, the evil-spirit mermaid goes after the young monk, who is the apprentice of the old monk (and is probably like a son to him). Once the old monk realizes what's going on, he knows that the young monk is about to lose his life to pay for his (the old monk's) sins. He knows he must protect the young monk. So he tries to do it through prayer and giving the young monk the cross. When that doesn't work (the young monk takes a boat out onto the water to join the mermaid there), the old monk throws himself into a battle with the mermaid and he dies in the process of that battle, but is able to save the life of the young monk thereby.

So, as you can probably see, the story and plot of the animation are quite meaningful, substantial, and even powerful. You just need to be able to understand it to appreciate it and understand Petrov's work fully.

admirable work

[Kirpianuscus · 17 August 2016]

each film of Aleksander Petrov is a gem. it is a basic rediscovered truth discovered again and again. and not only the special technique is the explanation. but a sort of spell. Rusalka is a simple story about faith, temptation and sacrifice. but the manner to remind more than presents aspects from Russian folklore, Orthodox Church's life, feelings who are the most inspired translation in the frames of oil colors on glass are the axis of the profound emotion who grows up. a story about Christianity who could be page from the Patericon. but who has the gift to becomes, scene by scene, reflection of yourself. because it is simple - the forms of love, the duty, the voices from different ages, the salvation as fruit of sacrifice. and the beginning of real life. a film like a medicine. useful when the present becomes a mermaid.

One of Petrov's better efforts

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 24 July 2016]

"Rusalka" or "The Mermaid" is a 1997 10-minute short film, so this one will have its 20th anniversary next year. It was the second Oscar nomination for Russian writer and director Aleksandr Petrov and he lost to Pixar back then. The Academy obviously rewarded Petrov's style here mostly, an animation technique which is the exact opposite of effortless and it takes years for him to make a new film, even if it is just a short one as always with Petrov. I myself enjoyed the watch here for the most part. I have not liked all of Petrov's works, as they sometimes are a bit in danger of becoming style over substance, but this one here has a good story, no lengths and also some nice emotions. I believe, if you plan on getting into Petrov's work, then this could be a good start as it is certainly among those films he made that are easier to find access to and appreciate. I think now that you read my review until the very end that you should check it out and give "Rusalka" a watch. I would not say that it's a great watch, but you probably will not regret it.

A Movie Acting Like a Spell

[p_radulescu · 10/10 · 8 April 2011]

This movie is of great beauty, and you can be conquered by the visual wizardry even if not understanding quite well what's going on there. The images are oil paintings on glass, witnessing a rare mastership, and you are like caught by a spell. Yes, it binds its viewers, so beautiful it is.

Some viewed in this movie only the Christian lesson: the old monk makes the supreme sacrifice to save the soul of the apprentice, teaching him (and through the movie also teaching us) the ultimate lesson. I think there are more valences in this movie, and maybe we should start methodically, with the title.

Let's try an explanation for what a "rusalka" means. She is a spirit of the waters; long time ago she committed suicide after being abandoned by her lover. So a "rusalka" is a drown maiden. She is not properly dead, rather in an intermediate realm, and she looks for revenge; only after that she might be fully received in the underworld, to rest for ever.

Let's now talk about the poem of Pushkin, which this movie is based upon. It will offer us the clue. Well, it's not that simple: Pushkin wrote two poems, with the same title, "Rusalka," quite different each other.

Pushkin created his first "Rusalka" in 1819. It is the story of an old hermit passing his days in continual prayer, who falls in love for a "rusalka." The attraction proves fatal: the old friar ends by drowning. What remains is a gray wet beard flowing over the waters.

In the 1830's Pushkin came back to the subject and started working on a large dramatic poem that remained unfinished. This second "Rusalka" would be the inspiration for the opera of Dargomyzhsky. The story is more elaborated here. A young prince sacrifices the love of a beautiful maiden in order to make a suitable marriage. The maiden drowns herself and becomes a "rusalka." Years are passing and the prince will encounter one day a girl who is the daughter of his long forgotten love: now herself a little "rusalka." And he realizes that his love story was the only happy period of his life and nothing else matters any more. From now on the prince would spend most of his time alone in the forest of the Dnieper banks.

And we can ask ourselves: is the "rusalka" looking for revenge, or just for being again together with her lover? It is this ambiguity that marks the genius of great writers.

The movie of Aleksandr Petrov unifies somehow the stories from the two poems. The old monk is the prince who in his youth betrayed his love. He hopes now to find solace through prayers and mortification. The novice who stays with the hermit will have to learn the way to God through his own trials and errors.

The story calls in mind somehow the movie of the Korean Kim Ki-Duk, "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... Spring." Like there, it is the large water, and the small shrine, hidden in the woods: an old master, his novice, the way toward purification going through the sins of the youth and the remorse and repentance of a whole life. At the end of the movie we realize that each monk in turn went through the same cycle: sin, repentance. Time is circular, we are to follow the same cycle of life. There is no history, just a present that comes again and again, with each new generation.

There is this circularity of time that marks also the movie of Aleksandr Petrov. The old monk sees in the novice his own image from long time ago. He is just entering the cycle of life, this novice, and the old monk wants to protect him.

So let me give you my understanding of the movie: As the novice starts his love games with the "rusalka," the hermit has a flashback, the remembrance of his sins of youth. He realizes that the girl in the river is his own love that he betrayed long time ago (an interesting detail: the sledge from today's hut appears also in the flashback; to say nothing about the fox who runs at the beginning of the movie, a witness of this circularity of time, of this endless repetition of sin and repentance).

The monk falls asleep while praying and in his dream he ascends Jacob's Ladder to find advice from Heaven. The Blessed Virgin is handing him the Lamb of God, and the monk realizes that he got the Stigmata of Jesus: the heavenly advice is to offer himself to sacrifice in order to save the novice. And that's what he's doing: going to the river, throwing himself inside the waters to save the novice, dying, together with the "rusalka," who is now revenged. The novice remains alone, taking care of two graves: monk and "rusalka" have finally found their solace.

Beautiful but nothing special

[AnonymousbutDilpreet002 · 6/10 · 17 August 2020]

There is not anything admirable about this short except the unique animation style. The story ,like everyone says, is hard to follow. Some scenes are beautiful, like the storm and flowing water. It's beautiful but vague (or the other way around ). The story has nothing new, the it's not about the story but the style.

Watch it for it's style only.

Sublime. Simply sublime

[Rectangular_businessman · 10/10 · 6 September 2012]

"Rusalka" was another short masterpiece directed by the great Aleksandr Petrov: Just like his other works, "Rusalka" possess a magnificent beauty that hardly could be compared with anything that I've seen before, expressing with lyricism and captivating imagery a fascinating story.

The quality of the animation is outstanding beyond words, being every single frame of this short a great work of art, with an almost dreamlike use of colors and shapes, capturing perfectly well the equally ethereal nature of the plot.

This is a great animated film, that has to be seen to be believed. My review isn't enough to make this short any justice, being my main recommendation to any viewer to see with their own eyes "Rusalka" to confirm how wonderful it is.

Mermaid

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 7 April 2024]

With death closing in on him quickly, an elderly monk regales to his novice a story of his youth. It was the height of winter with snow and ice everywhere when he spotted a young girl floating in the river. He manages to drag her out then goes to fetch her some warm clothing. Upon his return he finds she has gone. Many months later, he is fishing when she pays him a more lively visit and they fall in love - but his own elderly master is watching over him and so, well... With Jacob's ladder bringing the short story to an end, what did actually happen to our would-be couple? Culminating in a threatening storm sequence, there is much religiosity to this story with many of the animations of the older characters looking like they'd been drawn by Michelangelo. Dark and grainy images, this time augmented by some powerful audio, make for a compelling ten minutes of drama from Aleksandr Petrov.

Utterly breathtaking

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 30 December 2014]

As somebody who's very fond of Russian animation, Rusalka(aka Mermaid) has to be one of the most beautiful and fascinating of any Russian animated film or short. The high point is the animation, it is hard to put into words how truly gorgeous it is, not only is an animation style unlike any seen before in animation(oil paints on glass) but every frame and movement flows so smoothly it's almost dream-like. There is so much atmosphere in the setting, and the vast details and the way the colours are used were a visual feast. The music is soothing, almost like it's coming from a distance, and wisely sparingly used, while the sound effects are truly evocative and add so much to that magical dream-like effect. While it is understandable why anybody would have difficulty following the story(particularly if you are unfamiliar with the Slavic folklore tale it's based on), it wasn't a problem for me and the hauntingly gentle mood conveyed in the short is really to be admired, while the ending was incredibly poignant and stayed with me for a while after. The characters are very well drawn and expressively characterised(facial expressions and gestures rather than vocal, particularly good in this regard was for Rusalka) and carry Rusalka beautifully. In conclusion, a breathtaking Russian short film. 10/10 Bethany Cox

perfect

[Vincentiu · 31 August 2014]

a perfect film. seems be a too large definition but it has all pieces for be more than wonderful animation, pure Aleksandr Petrov high work but a magnificent story who remember the Russian mythology, the air of Orthodox Church,who presents , in wise manner, the temptation and the love in its so different nuances as not exactly as show but as touching source of love sense. it has the gift to impress in a profound manner. to give a form of beauty who could be not just aesthetic but perfect lesson about important things. it seems be enough - it is one of Aleksander Petrov short animation. but, like each of his films, it is not only animation. maybe a testimony about force and delicacy, about heart and fascination of existence. presented after a work who could be , for many from us, unrealistic, a sacrifice itself.

Thank You ekutyavin

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 2 September 2019]

One of the reviewers did a beautiful job of putting this amazing animated feature in context. I, like so many, would have given this a 10, just based on its incredible beauty. When the synopsis of the story is brought to life, I would double it. From the first moment of this film, I was captivated by the swirling loveliness of its images. The story of the mermaid and what she represents is startling. She is no Ariel but the spirit of something in the past. It takes the incredible storytelling to give the reasons for her existent to the viewers. Don't miss this.