Am a fan of Russian/Soviet animation and of Russian/Soviet film in general, ever since watching Soyuzmultfilm's 'The Snow Queen' and getting into the work of Aleksandr Ptushko (a few available in dubbed versions, which do them no justice). Nikolai Gogol, who wrote the story 'The Lost Letter' is based upon, was a very interesting and influential writer with quite a unique writing style (important in the "Russian literary realism"), well at least for back then.
1945's 'The Lost Letter', directed by Lamis Bredis and the Brumberg sisters (considered pioneers in Russian animation, have seen them coined "the grandmothers of the Russian animation" Valentina and Zinaida) and with supprting-direction by Ptushko, is of interesting historical value. With it being the first Soviet cel-animated film and an early work, one their first animated films after many short films, of the quintessential, or at least in my view, Russian animation studio Soyuzmultfilm.
Was amazed at how good the animation was for so early on for Soyuzmultfilm, the attention to detail is extraordinary and some of the visuals are suitably grotesquely nightmarish (very appropriate for the story), enough to make one pine for the return of traditional/cel animation. As great as the rich colours and distinctive character designs are it's those pretty incredible-looking backgrounds and landscapes that are especially good here.
The music is lusciously orchestrated and very atmospheric, whether in the distinctively Cossack dance-like music early on or quite haunting in a wonderfully weird way in the more devillishly surreal moments. The dialogue, of which there's a lot, is neither too complicated or childish, there is as of now an English subtitled version available, though the film is still in Russian and it isn't hard to follow and just about flows.
Story-wise, it is magical and a classic case of strange being a good thing, with it being very true in spirit to the magical atmosphere and surrealism of the original story and Gogol's unmistakable style. It doesn't feel over-stretched, neither does it feel like too much is crammed in. The characters are nationalist (another distinctive characteristic of Gogol's writing) and carry the story beautifully. The voice acting avoids being too broad.
In summation, wonderful. 10/10
