There was also a 1954 adaptation.

The plot points are almost the same, but here they are condensed into a shorter (more child-friendly) running time. The 1950s version used rotoscoping and had a dry sense of humour, while in this version a lot of attention is paid to the art direction and scene composition, and they are quite wonderful and memorable (it reminds me of the Hungarian animated feature "Son of the White Mare", or even of Valeriy Ugarov's Music Box with a Secret).

Koschei is much more of a presence in the 1950s version, while here he doesn't even appear. Actually, the art design for his kingdom at the end of the film seems rather rushed.

The music is excellent in both, though I might prefer this one.

Overall, both are quite good, and reflective of the best tendencies in the Soviet animation industry of their respective eras.

As I have said many times, the theme of "a hero saving a beauty" is extremely rare in Asian literature. It seems that the closer we get to the Mediterranean region, the more such anecdotes become. If we look at it from a statistical perspective, stories like this in Asia usually only appear in ancient times or among less civilized peoples. At this point, I do not mean to offend, but it is the harsh reality of Asian society. Asians in the past greatly respected priests and intellectuals, so those who practiced music and weapons were considered low class and even received very few benefits. That obviously led to a situation where Western European colonialism penetrated very easily, and to this day, Asians still do not have enough confidence to physically compete with Europeans. But well, that's history !

The story of bogatyr Dăm Jông is most closely related to The Frog Princess. Of course, Vietnamese folks also have a little story called The boy who married a toad (Chàng lấy vợ cóc), but it's not very famous, at the same time, the story is also very sketchy : A student who did not yet pass the exam accidentally had to marry a toad that lived in a rice field, then the toad helped him pass the exam to become a royal official.

Dăm Jông is a huge epic of the Bâhnar people, which is often told to the villagers by old men at night. They will sit by the fire in a large house, drink wine and eat grilled meat, then listen to old people tell stories. This is a very good form of community activity ! I think, Beowulf was also born in this form. However, the film adaptation was produced in 1986, at that time the Western Highlands of Vietnam was very tense because of ethnic and religious conflicts, so we can completely understand that the villains in the film symbolizes the threat from outside to Vietnam.

Western Highlands region was formerly known as Central Highlands, because it is located in the middle of the Vietnam map and has a strategic position that cannot be overlooked. In 1975, the South Vietnam regime collapsed within just a month after losing Central Highlands. By 1978, Vietnamese divisions only needed a week to move from this location to Cambodge to destroy the Khmer Rouge. However, although considered the "center", the culture of this region has little interaction with other regions, so it retains very primitive habits of the world. The ethnic groups in this region are quite close to the groups from Oceania in terms of genetics. To this day, they still weave clothes from linen so they are only black, and keep the habit of going barefoot. Even their music is quite monotonous and dull. Since the introduction of Protestantism, then Vietnamese, French, American and especially communist culture, foreign forces (mainly Vietnam) created images of muscular Western Highlands warriors, awesome conquests of wild beasts and evan jubilant rock music. However, if anyone comes into contact with the indigenous people, they will easily be disappointed :

The Western Highlands has many ethnic groups, but the language is less diverse and slow to change. They probably only belong to a race with dark skin and small figure, but later due to many reasons of war or migration, it became difficult to get along. Previously, they only lived nomadic lives, worshiping statues carved on wooden pillars and living in high houses to avoid wild animals ; later, they were guided by the French to grow rubber, coffee and some other industrial crops. The area where they live has a hot and dry climate most of the year, but there are still terrible rainy seasons. Because underground are ancient volcanic craters, the soil is all basalt. Although it is good for plants, when it rains, it becomes thick mud that is very harmful to vehicles. This region generally has frequent earthquakes, so it will be related to the story I am about to tell below.

Dăm Jông has a number of slang words and honorifics that are only appropriate for the Western Highlands context. The people of the Western Highlands, specifically in this story the Bâhnar people (bâhnar = mountain), mainly live in villages, so they often call each other as "lũ làng" (all villagers), which similar to "everyone" or "everybody" in English language. Elderly persons are often called "già" (old one), the young male is "dăm" (the lad) and female (both old and young) is "bia" (the lady). In addition, respectable men are called "bok" (sir, mister, uncle....). Besides, "yàng" means "Heavenly God". So, an example : "Bok Kei-dei" is the name of God in Protestant faith from Western Highlands.

As I mentioned above, the Western Highlands is landlocked and completely high mountains, so ethnic groups only live in villages and it seems that for a long time they only looked at life from this perspective. In the epics (h'amon), the heroes' journey just means going from village to village, forest to forest, mountain to mountain. Thus, the protagonist and antagonist both come from the villages. Let's talk about Bok Drăng-hă Drăng-hơm first : This character appears in many epics and only has a villainous position. That seems to be a sorcerer capable of controlling all supernatural elements, and his name means "giant bird". According to epic Dăm Noi (Noi is Jông's grandson), Drăng-hă Drăng-hơm is the owner of a village and has four very beautiful daughters. The reason he was strong was because he had soon linked up with many other powerful chiefs. HOWEVER, because he often left home to conquer, his family became the heroes' target of conquest. Here, we can partly understand that the image of Drăng-hă Drăng-hơm is the ancients' interpretation of the phenomenon of volcanoes and hot winds. Also note that the summer climate in Vietnam is influenced by hot winds from the Indian Ocean.

Dăm Jông's story keeps repeating the image of the sun and the moon. Therefore, we can say that Bia K'Ni and Dăm Jông represent the moon and the sun respectively. Are not the golden shield and silver spear like the souls of the sun and moon ? The mountain god gave the gourd water which contains water to Dăm Jông to remind him to fight for his homeland. The belief of many ethnic minorities in Vietnam is that human ancestors were born from a gourd. There is another legend about the birth of the sun and moon : There was a brother and sister in that family who were guilty of incest, so the villagers chased them away, and they fled to the sky to become the sun and moon.

All in all, Dăm Jông's story is like Ivan Tsarevich's journey, it is the growth process of a person's life.

From now on I decided to share film «Dăm Jông the braveheart»'s subtitles freely here. Actually, in my opinion, its title should be called as "Bogatyr Jông", however it is not very literary. :D

❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀

1
00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:08,000
O grandsons and granddaughters
of Bâhnar village !

2
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,500
Today I will tell you about...

3
00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:18,500
... the majestic victory of a young hero.

4
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,000
With his courage and strong will,

5
00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,000
he defeated a very vicious demon,

6
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:33,500
to bring a free life to our homeland.

7
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,500
Because of him :

8
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:43,000
That bird was flying again
in the high and windy sky.

9
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:50,500
Those elephants was able to
walk on the green grass again.

10
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:59,000
Sounds of the pestle pounding rice
rang out again every dusk.

11
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:08,000
At night, the red fire flickered again
on the floor of our communal house.

12
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:14,000
So that young warrior's name is :

13
00:01:18,500 --> 00:01:22,500
<b>DĂM JÔNG THE BRAVEHEART</b>
- Subtitles by Duy Kiền -

14
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,000
Dăm Jông was born into a poor family.

15
00:01:36,500 --> 00:01:41,500
He lost his father and
then his mother early.

16
00:01:42,500 --> 00:01:46,500
Thus like a newly hatched worm
or a newborn squirrel,

17
00:01:47,500 --> 00:01:50,000
their family only consists of
sister and younger brother.

18
00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:58,000
Bia K'Ni replaced mother and father
raised Dăm Jông until he grew up.

19
00:03:06,500 --> 00:03:10,500
♫ When the moon rises,

20
00:03:12,500 --> 00:03:16,000
♫ Next to the cradle,

21
00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:22,000
♫ A smile from the dream,

22
00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,000
♫ By my little brother !

23
00:03:27,500 --> 00:03:32,000
♫ When bees looked for flowers in the mountain,

24
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,500
♫ Deers came to drink water from the spring,

25
00:03:41,500 --> 00:03:45,500
♫ Mother also went into the forest to find the sun.

26
00:03:47,500 --> 00:03:55,500
♫ Hushaby !

27
00:04:38,500 --> 00:04:44,500
♫ Hushaby !

28
00:04:51,500 --> 00:04:54,500
♫ I lull baby in the hammock,

29
00:04:57,500 --> 00:05:00,500
♫ Which is like the hanging moon.

30
00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:07,000
♫ I lull baby with a song,

31
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:19,000
♫ Which has clear streams,
♫ And even golden sunshine.

32
00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:24,000
♫ O my sweet sun,
♫ My mountainous sun.

33
00:05:24,500 --> 00:05:30,500
♫ Hushaby !

34
00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,500
How beautiful Bia K'Ni is !

35
00:07:24,500 --> 00:07:28,500
Thus her image was caught in the
magic mirror of a vicious demon.

36
00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:30,500
Drăng-hă Drăng-hơm ("giant bird").

37
00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,000
O all villagers and elders !

38
00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,000
Please help me !

39
00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,000
Bia K'Ni !

40
00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,500
O Yàng, save me !
("yàng" = God)

41
00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,500
Yo, Dăm Jông !

42
00:10:43,500 --> 00:10:44,500
Sir !

43
00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,500
Who are you,
and why do you know my name ?

44
00:10:48,500 --> 00:10:52,000
I belong to the Western Highlands.

45
00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,000
Not only do I know your name,

46
00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,000
but I also know that
your sister and villagers...

47
00:10:59,500 --> 00:11:03,500
... were harmed by evil Drăng-hă Drăng-hơm.

48
00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:09,500
Thus I have to go kill that demon
to save my sister and all villagers.

49
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,000
But, Sir, how to defeat the evil one ?

50
00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:19,500
Oh, to destroy him, you must have
a golden shield and a silver spear.

51
00:11:20,500 --> 00:11:23,000
Where do I find those things, Sir ?

52
00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,000
They are in that magical tree.

53
00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,500
I give you this iron ax.

54
00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:40,500
You must use all your strength
and perseverance to cut down the tree.

55
00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:45,000
So only then will you own
the silver spear and golden shield,

56
00:11:45,500 --> 00:11:47,000
to fight the demon.

57
00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:04,500
Yo, Dăm Jông !

58
00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:08,000
So you've got the
golden shield and silver spear.

59
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,000
Now I give you this fairy gourd as well.

60
00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:17,500
It contains water from the Western Highlands,

61
00:13:18,500 --> 00:13:21,000
which may help you in times of danger.

62
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,000
Come on, be on your way !

63
00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:27,000
Your sister and villagers
are hoping for you a lot.

65
00:16:44,500 --> 00:16:46,500
Dăm Jông, what are you waiting for ?

66
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,000
Please quickly take out your gourd !

67
00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:02,000
O, Bia K'Ni !

67
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,500
Bia K'Ni, my sister !

68
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,000
Dăm Jông, my brother !

69
00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:17,500
Sister !

70
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:19,000
Dăm Jông !

71
00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:20,500
Oh !

72
00:19:21,500 --> 00:19:23,000
My brother is so mature.

73
00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:30,500
Dăm Jông has already destroyed the demon.

74
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:36,000
He then returned to the villagers of Bâhnar.

75
00:19:36,500 --> 00:19:39,000
So they happily sang and danced together.

76
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,000
Scenarist : Hoài Giang

77
00:20:07,500 --> 00:20:09,500
Script editor : Trần Ngọc Thanh

78
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,500
Director : Lê Thanh

79
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,000
Main artist : Vũ Hòa, Đỗ Dương

80
00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,000
Caméra : Thủy Hằng

81
00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:19,500
Composer : Nguyễn Cường

82
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,000
Prints at the
National Documentary and Scientific Film Studio

83
00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:39,000
Vietnam Animation Studio
produced in Hanoï 1986

84
00:20:39,500 --> 00:20:41,000
Producer : Phạm Đồng

85
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:52,999
<b>THE END</b>
© Varhiv 2024

Reposting Eus's comment from his initial submission:

Did you notice the resemblance with a previous upload "Faith a short film by Tatjana Fedorovskaya" from 2017 on the Eus347 Non Putin-Russia-n Puppet-Animations-Shorts youtube channel?
How things seem to never have changed when things have changed with time.

Barinova made four musical cartoons adapting Russian animal folk tales in this cutout animation style from 1981-1984 (there's also 1979's "Scary Story", which looks similar), with "Cat Catafeyevich" being my favourite. This is the last of them to be added to the site. After finally watching it, I think it's quite good - better than the next two. It has good character designs and songs. And yet, it has some illogical things in its plot - for example, that a family of hares would let a fox sleep in their home, that a wolf would live with a ram, and that a ram would be weaker than a fox.

Personally, I think many of Barinova's earlier efforts have something lacking and she really only came into her own as a director from the mid-1980s when she started taking more artistic risks.

Luckily I found the animated film adaptation of The Poor Scholar and the Jade Emperor : "A Temple on the Sea". Maybe I'll spend a few days of Lunar New Year to translate it.

I hadn't seen this version before - I had previously subtitled the 2007 adaptation ("The Dog Door"), which I quite liked and which is closer to the original story (although this one shows that begging was the cause of... a certain unfortunate event... while that one didn't).

On the other side, the pacing of this one is much more relaxed, while that one moves very quickly, perhaps too much so for many people.

Ultimately, both are good, but this one is probably more suitable for younger viewers (partly because the main character is changed to be the puppy).

I know of no other Russian animation director whose work is so heavily influenced by camels.

In my opinion, this story may originate from some principle in Zoroastrianism, which is the oldest religion in Asia. Most of the nations moving around the Silk Road had their own version. The following is a story that has long been in Vietnamese textbooks, but it originated from a story in a Ming Dynasty book.

THE STARFRUIT TREE

(The starfruit tree is a tropical plant native to Southeast Asia. The reason it is called "starfruit" because when cut crosswise, the fruit looks exactly like Solomon's star. Its wood has a mild fragrance and is quite good for firewood for heating. However, its leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds are all valuable remedies for summer diseases. Starfruit has two distinct flavors : sour and sweet ; but after eating, it leaves an astringent taste in the throat. Therefore, it has a very good anti-thirst effect. Perhaps because of its cooling properties, the star fruit tree is related to the story below)

There were two brothers whose parents inherited quite a rich farm and garden, but the older brother was greedy so he took all the wealth and only left the younger brother and his wife a small thatched roof at the edge of the village. In front of the hut there is only a starfruit tree full of fruit.

One day, a strange bird came to eat starfruits. This bird belongs to many versions : phoenix, eagle, crow. After the younger brother complained that if it ate all the starfruit, what would he use for his living capital, the bird spoke and said : If it eats a starfruit, it will give him a piece of gold, but the younger brother has to make a three-span bag for him to carry to get the gold. So the bird carried him to the desert island, got enough gold and became richer than his brother.

When the older brother learned that his younger brother was so rich, he persuaded his brother to exchange all his inheritance to receive a hut and a starfruit tree. Of course, we can understand his outcome : He listened to his wife and immediately made a twelve-span bag. On the way back home, the bird could not carry the older brother with his bag of gold, so it tilted its wings, causing him to fall into the sea and die.

This film is probably influenced by the poetics of The Frog Prince by the Brothers Grimm. Of course, it has been cleverly told to be suitable for children. Even in the lyrics, a part of what is called "the unspeakable" is expressed.