1973 ‘Tři oříšky pro Popelku’ Directed by Václav Vorlíček
The film stars Libuse Safrankova as the title character, a young woman who is put upon by her stepmother and stepsisters. The film employs a twist, though, when a handsome prince comes knocking. Cinderella does not simply fall into the prince's arms. In this version, he must actively pursue the young woman who is a skilled sharpshooter prone to wearing hunting outfits. Cinderella also has three wishes at her disposal, gained from three magic nuts.
Recommended by MrJago for My Buddy the Elf Challenge
Here we have the classic story of Cinderella with a twist. Cinderella sure gets pushed around by her stepmother in this one too, but she's not sitting around and moping in the attic as we're used to. No, she runs around in the forest like some Ronia the Robber's Daughter character, getting in to snowball fights with the prince and shows off her hunting skills. She's free spirited, just as the prince, and they are meant for each other because of that. Not just because she shows up on the big ball looking beautiful and dropping her shoe... And oh, she also gets three wishes from an owl. Wishes that helps…
Reviewed on Cinema Eclectica.
This is apparently a massive festive tradition in its native Czech Republic, which I can understand perfectly. Stacked against British Christmas viewing, it's not quite Wallace and Gromit but it kicks the shit out of Eastenders - and manages to have an empowered, feisty heroine without feeling like a revisionist or non-traditional fairy tale. It is, simply, a fairy tale, with all the unironic satisfactions that implies. There's also a touch of Grimm around the edges; hard to imagine a children's film featuring this much bloodsports these days...
To the people that made the decision of having only one guy dubbing the entire norwegian version. Thank You.
Movie 2.5/5
Dub: 7.5/5
I’m not especially fond of the Cinderella tale. It’s a bland plot with bland characters who do unrealistic and impractical things to fulfill their unrealistic desires. It’s all pretty lame. But in Three Wishes for Cinderella, the tale takes on a new charm, forming real personalities for the characters and bringing forth a mischievous, proactive Cinderella who doesn’t mope and cry, but the movie stays close to its fairytale roots rather than taking on an uber-bad-ass-pseudo-feminist approach. It’s not anything to shout about, but definitely an enjoyable watch and undeniably now my favorite Cinderella adaptation.
This is an absolutely lovely fairy-tale film, and 'delightful' is the best word I can think of to describe it. In this version of Cinderella, the heroine isn't a drippy, put-upon maid who patiently endures her suffering - she's defiant and talks back. Even better, she's also an expert huntress who is more than capable of showing the boys how to shoot an arrow. While it's clearly a small film with a modest budget it's well shot and it does a fantastic job of making you fall in love with the characters, particularly Cinderella and the Prince. They're given a lot more humanity and personality than you mind in most fairy-tale films, and little touches like the camaraderie between Cinderella and her fellow servants and the Prince's defiance of his tutor make all the difference.
This is utterly charming and I plan to make watching it a ritual around Christmas time - those snow-blanketed woods are truly magical.
Three Wishes for Cinderella is my favourite version of the popular fable, full of Eastern European magic whilst also grounded in reality.
So, this looks like a TV movie from the 1980s or something. The production value and film aesthetics aren't all that good (except for the production design, which I was rather impressed with.) However, I was surprised by how much charm and heart this movie has. It doesn't present the damsel Cinderella that we usually see, but instead gives us an independent young woman who holds her own against the men that surround her and is not defined by stereotypical female roles. I loved the central character in this. The film itself is actually quite interesting and funny. What the hell, I enjoyed it.
Cheesy and silly, with some slightly poor performances (although Cinderella herself is good) and some pretty unclear character motivations, but goddamnit it's delightful. Thoroughly charming and enjoyable, I only watched it because it expired on Mubi at midnight and I thought "what the hell, when's the next time I'll get a chance to see a Czech adaptation of Cinderella," and I'm very glad I did.
Super charming & all the better for reimagining Cinderella as a strong character who absolutely takes the initiative - I just love that instead of hopping on a carriage, she just rides her own horse to the ball (she's also a master hunter, obviously) - the film's apparently a Christmas tradition in Czechoslovakia & I'll now happily make it one of mine, even if I totally watched this out of season.
Unpretentious and heartwarming, but not that subversive after all, given that two out of three wishes she make are for fancy dresses (and the first was a hunting uniform, used to impress the prince). Clothes are not merely clothes of course, but what they symbolise doesn't seem so subversive either.
Stephen Williamson 2,944 films
JulieC 1,266 films
I love love Christmas and Christmas movies!!
Movies set at, around or a scene at Christmas.
Victoria 431 films
From the faithful to loose, classic the modern, to parodies and everything in between.
Must be based off a historic…
