Color, 1974, 76 mins. 33 secs.
Directed by Arūnas Žebriūnas
Starring Gediminas Girdvainis, Vaiva Mainelytė, Vasilijus Simčičiu, Regimantas Adomaitis
Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray) (US RA HD) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)
Who's up for a Lithuanian
supernatural folk-rock musical? Continuing their track record of blowing viewers' minds with
titles completely neglected in the U.S., Deaf Crocodile strikes again with The Devil's Bride (Velnio nuotaka), a completely sung feast for the senses clearly inspired by funked-up stage hit stampeding through Europe like Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and La Révolution Française. Shot in scope and ultra-saturated color, it was a local hit and became something of a cult favorite among Soviet bloc audiences but has stayed under the radar pretty much everywhere else.
In the mountains of heaven, God and a lot of angels are having a banquet that soon turns raucous when they shake off their white robes and start to party. Faster than you can say "Lucifer," one of the instigators, top hat-wearing Pinčiukas (Girdvainis), is among those banished to Earth. He ends up in a lake on the property of Baltaragis (Simčičius), a lowly farmer, and their years-long relationship involves a bargain with the lives and souls of beautiful Marcelė and the daughter she has with Baltaragis, Jurga (both played by Vaiva Mainelytė). The latter is promised to
the conniving imp when she comes of age, but of course things get complicated when she ends up falling in love with bearded man of the
land Girdvainis (Adomaitis) -- all belted out in song.
That synopsis is a lot more linear than the experience of actually watching this film, which leaps through time periods and doesn't waste its time with old-fashioned concepts like character development. Instead you can just focus on the great, catchy music and psychedelic color palette, while the basic themes of temptation and true love come through clearly enough thanks to the source material, Larzys Bortua's 1945 novel Whitehorn's Windmill. A veteran of locally successful fable-style films geared towards children, director Arūnas Žebriūnas was a logical choice here with something a bit more adult in nature (mainly a tiny bit of nudity and strongly implied sexual longing). At a brisk 76 minutes, the film tears through its songs and characters without wasting any time and also manages to work in some raucous comic relief at regular intervals.
Since this will be a first-time view for almost everyone buying it, the 2025 Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile makes for a
fine introduction from what is presumably an accurate restoration completed in 2015 overseen by the Lithuanian Film Centre. The source material is flawless here, and the very aggressive use of color and shadow makes sense given the subject matter. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 Lithuanian mono track sounds pristine and features good optional English subtitles. Though it isn't listed on the packaging, you also get a new audio commentary by Michael Brooke who delivers another thorough, impressive Eastern European track covering '70s Lithuanian cinema,
the collaborations of several parties involved, the amusing recurring elements like a golden toilet bowl, and the local cultural elements at play that could easily fly over your head. A new video interview with the director's daughter, Monika Edgar (54m30s), finds her chatting happily with Deaf Crocodile's Dennis Bartok about her father's career focusing on the decade leading up to this film, his affinity for fantastic and youth-oriented projects, the musical collaborators he recruited here, and his life after the release of his biggest hit. A new video interview with Lithuanian film critic Ieva Šukytė (53m27s), again with Bartok, covers the history of Lithuanian cinema (citing some of her favorite filmmakers, the landmark films she encountered growing up, and the tastes of local audiences) and this film in particular including its impact and major diversions from the source novel in terms of both plot and tone. Finally "The One Who Carries a Tune" (13m34s) is a new visual essay by Dr. Will Dodson and Ryan Verrill covering the background of Lithuanian's art culture, the 20th-century global events that affected it, and the role rock music played in its '70s identity which seeped into this film. The usual deluxe edition comes in a striking hardcase and features a substantial 60-page book with essays by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Walter Chaw breaking down the film's role in the director's filmography, its use of the devil in ways connected to other late '60s and '70s films, various musical connections, contributors to the soundtrack, and more, augmented with photos and a handful of beautiful production sketches.
Reviewed on July 29, 2025