The Devil’s Bride ~ Rarely seen Lithuanian Rock Opera coming to Blu-ray! ~

THE DEVIL’S BRIDE (VELNIO NUOTAKA) – 1974, Lithuanian Film Centre, 78 min.  Imagine a wildly surreal early 1970s Lithuanian rock opera directed by Ken Russell circa TOMMY that is equal parts JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (wailing guitar-heavy ballads, religious theme), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (rural village setting) and THE WICKER MAN / BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW (folklore / folk magic), and you have some idea of the elemental strangeness and beauty of director Arūnas Žebriūnas’ THE DEVIL’S BRIDE.  The film opens with one of our favorite musical sequences ever:  a long-haired flower child God sits on his throne in the heavenly mountains, adored by angelic hosts in white robes and wings.  Suddenly the guitars kick in, the angels throw off their robes revealing orange Mod dresses and bowler hats, and the party descends into a choreographed pansexual orgy like nothing you’ve ever seen.  An incredibly ambitious sung-through musical ala THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (where the entire story is performed in song without traditional dialogue), the story revolves around a devil named Pinčiukas (Gediminas Girdvainis) who is booted out of Heaven and drops into a frog pond owned by farmer Baltaragis (Vasilijus Simčičius). Quick as you can say “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” Pinčiukas promises him the hand of his beautiful blonde love Marcelė (Vaiva Mainelytė) in exchange for their as-yet unborn daughter Jurga (also played by Mainelytė as an adult), and wicked complications ensue over the years.  Based on the book Whitehorn's Windmill by Kazys Boruta with music by Viačeslavas Ganelinas and utterly stunning, crystal-pure cinematography by Algimantas Mockus, the film is interlaced with Lithuanian folklore and surreal images:  legions of female devils riding bareback on horses; a black carriage drawn by a team of devils disappearing into the waters of a lake; rituals of mistletoe roots and rowan berries and straw men.  In a wild twist, the devil Pinčiukas winds up being one of the most sympathetic characters, doomed to live on earth while he longs to return to Heaven.  A beloved cult hit in Lithuania and a major rediscovery for fans of film musicals, THE DEVIL’S BRIDE has been beautifully restored by the Lithuanian Film Centre for its first-ever U.S. release by Deaf Crocodile.  In Lithuanian with English subtitles.

More details to come…