65th Great Victory anniversary: War through its children’s eyes

An exhibition called “Big eyes of war” kicked off at the Gallery in Solyanka (St.) in Moscow. It marks 30^th birthday anniversary of the Soviet animated film “Tale of Tales”, and the upcoming holiday of the Victory Day. The masterpiece of Soviet animation, directed by Yuri Norstein, is based on his child’s recollections about war time.

Yuri Norstein and Ludmila Petrushevskaya (script writer of the film) once wrote about this film: "This should be a film about memory. Clothes on the washing lines, an ox with a ring in the nostril, full of horrific fatal passion. Our neighbor with one only leg, who returned from front. Everything can be organized into a simple plot, still very special, so-called pleated-plot, which firstly extends and finally adds up to one simple sound – we live. Because our childhood fell on the end of the war, and we should eternally remember that happiness is every day of peace. Each and every day".

Not once did Yuri Norstein say that the “Tale o Tales” was built on his child’s memories, sometimes even vague. Apart from sketches for the film the exhibition is unveiling video recordings of interviews with creators of the “Tale of Tales”.