Sampo

Details

Sold Out / OOP

This listing is for the standard edition Blu-ray release. The limited edition slipcover was limited to 2,000 units and is sold out. The two versions are identical, aside from the slipcover.

Deaf Crocodile is an L.A.-based Distribution + Restoration company focused on New, Independent, Lost/Unseen and World Cinema with a special interest in Animation, Cult Horror + Fantasy, LGBTQ films, and the work of neglected and underrepresented Filmmakers from across the spectrum. The company was founded by film restoration expert Craig Rogers and distributor / exhibitor Dennis Bartok. Vinegar Syndrome’s sister company, OCN Distribution, is thrilled to be representing Deaf Crocodile's brand new line of home video releases! 

Based on the Finnish national epic “Kalevala,” director Aleksandr Ptushko’s ravishing, mystical fantasy tells the story of a sinister witch Louhi (Anna Orochko) who covets the Sampo, a magical, rainbow-colored mill that can produce endless salt, grain, and gold. When the hero Lemminkäinen (Andris Oshin) attempts to stop her, Louhi steals the sun, plunging the world into eternal darkness. A Finnish/Soviet co-production and shot like its predecessor ILYA MUROMETS in gorgeous CinemaScope, SAMPO features some of Ptushko’s most surreal and fantastical imagery: a glowing red horse plowing a field of vipers; a boat of fire with a stag’s head; a weeping mother literally walking across the sea to find her lost son. With its witch’s incantations and repeated scenes of forging magical items – “Give me fire for the furnace from the nave of the sky!” – there is a Macbeth-like occult force to the film as well, underscored by the raging blue-gray seas and rock-strewn landscapes.

directed by: Aleksandr Ptushko
starring: Urho Somersalmi, Anna Orochko, Ivan Voronov, Andris Osins, Ada Voytsik
1959 / 90 min / 2.35:1 / Finnish 5.1 DTS-HD MA

Additional info:

• Region A Blu-ray
• Audio commentary track by Steve Bissette
• Russian Fantastika Part Two by Alan Upchurch
• English subtitles