'I Am Dragon' Sticks To Its Fairy Tale Roots
Honestly, I’ve never been a big fan of traditional fairy tales.
Don’t get me wrong: as a consumer of stories, I think that many of them are suitably grand, if not downright poetic. It’s just that rarely have I seen them translated well to the silver screen, Walt Disney’s animated projects aside. In some respects, I think it’s that these rather simple tales get “beefed up” and/or complicated with unnecessary subplots in order to make for a 90-minute product; and what gets sacrificed or cheapened is the necessary ‘moral of the story,’ buried under mountains of subtext not in the original legend. Sure, the meaning is still there; but it’s padded so heavily with narrative baggage that it all feels diluted from the process in transforming it from the script to the screen.
Thankfully, Russia’s I Am Dragon (2015) serves more as exception to the rule, and I ended up loving it much more than I thought I would. As imperfect as it is – with some drag throughout an all-too-commercially constructed fabled love story – Dragon ends up being, perhaps, the most traditional adaptation of a fairy tale I’ve ever seen. (And, again, this is leaving out the usual Disney fare.)
Don’t get me wrong: as a consumer of stories, I think that many of them are suitably grand, if not downright poetic. It’s just that rarely have I seen them translated well to the silver screen, Walt Disney’s animated projects aside. In some respects, I think it’s that these rather simple tales get “beefed up” and/or complicated with unnecessary subplots in order to make for a 90-minute product; and what gets sacrificed or cheapened is the necessary ‘moral of the story,’ buried under mountains of subtext not in the original legend. Sure, the meaning is still there; but it’s padded so heavily with narrative baggage that it all feels diluted from the process in transforming it from the script to the screen.
Thankfully, Russia’s I Am Dragon (2015) serves more as exception to the rule, and I ended up loving it much more than I thought I would. As imperfect as it is – with some drag throughout an all-too-commercially constructed fabled love story – Dragon ends up being, perhaps, the most traditional adaptation of a fairy tale I’ve ever seen. (And, again, this is leaving out the usual Disney fare.)
Princess Miroslava aka Mira (played by the lovely Mariya Poezzhaeva) is slated to wed Igor (Pyotr Romanov) not necessarily out of love but from duty: as is often the case in fairy tale times, a union is oft required to ‘keep the peace’ between kingdoms, so these two young spirits are both doing what they must in order to maintain the status quo. However, the singing of an old village hymn awakens the dastardly dragon, one who quickly swoops down on the wedding ceremony and kidnaps Mira. Why? It would seem that, in days of old, these villagers offered up fair young maidens (as dinner!) to the nearby dragon in exchange for leaving their kingdom untouched. Just when they thought it was safe to begin their lives anew, the dragon proves otherwise. So much for happily ever after …
On the dragon’s hidden island, Mira discovers Arman (Matvey Lykov), a young man who also appears to have been held captive by the winged serpent. But before the monster can make a meal of either of them, Mira uncovers a dark secret: Arman is actually the dragon in human form, and he’s forever bound by a curse to serve out his days as the fire-breathing demon lest he master the art of self-control.
From there, Dragon picks up all of the usual fairy tale tropes. Igor is destined to attempt the rescue of his bride despite confessing that he may not really love her all that much, much less with a true heart. Mira’s sister has sacrificed her pursuit of nuptials – Igor’s ward – as it defies the rules of what’s an acceptable union between two kingdoms. And the bounds of true love are shown to be powerful enough to navigate uncharted waters, bring peace to the faraway lands, and help a cursed young man control his inner beast.
On the dragon’s hidden island, Mira discovers Arman (Matvey Lykov), a young man who also appears to have been held captive by the winged serpent. But before the monster can make a meal of either of them, Mira uncovers a dark secret: Arman is actually the dragon in human form, and he’s forever bound by a curse to serve out his days as the fire-breathing demon lest he master the art of self-control.
From there, Dragon picks up all of the usual fairy tale tropes. Igor is destined to attempt the rescue of his bride despite confessing that he may not really love her all that much, much less with a true heart. Mira’s sister has sacrificed her pursuit of nuptials – Igor’s ward – as it defies the rules of what’s an acceptable union between two kingdoms. And the bounds of true love are shown to be powerful enough to navigate uncharted waters, bring peace to the faraway lands, and help a cursed young man control his inner beast.
Much of the story works very well, though director Indar Dzhendubaev’s carefully crafted visuals often times end up feeling and edited like one’s watching a high-priced car commercial. There’s a slickness to too much of it at times, and the end result is Dragon feels like it was put together in such a way as to compete in the global marketplace where Americanized action pictures take a rushed yet inevitably choppy pace in order to keep an audience’s short attention span glued to the screen. While there are a handful of sequences that feel truly lyrical, much in the way the aforementioned Disney animated pictures (i.e. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, etc.) capitalize on storytelling for the young-at-heart, I still have to wonder if Dzhendubaev’s intent was to put the veneer of a Transformers’ production on what is essentially a vastly kinder, gentler, and more human tale. If so, it was a mistake, one that can’t be corrected in post no matter how hard an editor works; if not, then perhaps the material may’ve been captured with greater nuance by a different director entirely.
Nonetheless, the film succeeds, especially the idyllic, almost enchanted setting the young lovers build for themselves on this hidden island. Think of this as “The Blue Lagoon Meets Beauty and the Beast.” Their developing relationship feels organic – as if it’s what Fate intended all along – and the actors – both who look extremely young especially given their ages according to IMDB.com – manage to make this fairy tale work in ways often reserved for animation. Poezzhaeva’s skills could’ve used a bit more polish – the woman has to carry much of the emotional weight behind any classic love story, and she’s a bit rough here – but Lykov rather seamlessly shows us a man tortured by a curse not of his creation but one he’s ready, willing, and able to overcome, even at the cost of his immortal soul.
Nonetheless, the film succeeds, especially the idyllic, almost enchanted setting the young lovers build for themselves on this hidden island. Think of this as “The Blue Lagoon Meets Beauty and the Beast.” Their developing relationship feels organic – as if it’s what Fate intended all along – and the actors – both who look extremely young especially given their ages according to IMDB.com – manage to make this fairy tale work in ways often reserved for animation. Poezzhaeva’s skills could’ve used a bit more polish – the woman has to carry much of the emotional weight behind any classic love story, and she’s a bit rough here – but Lykov rather seamlessly shows us a man tortured by a curse not of his creation but one he’s ready, willing, and able to overcome, even at the cost of his immortal soul.
According to Wikipedia.org, I Am Dragon failed to find an audience in its native Russia, and I couldn’t say why exactly. Historically, dragon-centric features (i.e. Dragonheart, Eragon) have never quite caught fire socially the way other Fantasy works have (i.e. The Lord of the Rings trilogy). As a live action feature, I found it quite compelling at times, though a bit inconsistent in pace. (A more-than-fair amount of set-up is required to put all of these elements into place, so it’s hard to make sense of so much time spent in Mira’s initial imprisonment.) That and the film sacrifices a no-holds-barred blockbuster finale in favor of the more traditional ending which speaks to the heart of its source material.
English-speaking audiences, sadly, have to be a bit older than the material is probably intended for, largely because of having to read subtitles instead of hearing this one spoken. Reading a visual love story definitely detracts from the vicariousness of it, but those interested are heartily encouraged to check this one out. It’s quite magical in all the right ways.
English-speaking audiences, sadly, have to be a bit older than the material is probably intended for, largely because of having to read subtitles instead of hearing this one spoken. Reading a visual love story definitely detracts from the vicariousness of it, but those interested are heartily encouraged to check this one out. It’s quite magical in all the right ways.
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