Baba Yaga (1973) Movie Script

Welcome to the text commentary for

Shameless' release of Baba Yaga

Fact track ported from the original DVD

release may contain some anachronisms :)

Director Corrado Farina sure knows how

to grab the attention of an audience

a graveyard at night, a creeping camera

and most importantly -

an attractive woman in skimpy leather

showing a bit of tit.

Farina uses unconventional camera angles

(not unlike the Batman TV series)

To give the audience a sense

of cinematic disorientation

as the unfortunate character

you are seeing right now.

That sort of thing doesn't go down

too well in America these days

Ah, it wouldn't feel like a

REAL European exploitation movie

without those particular

gunshot sound effects, now would it?

There were moments during this

opening sequence where the audience

suspected that what they were watching

was not an authentic attempt

at historical re-enactment.

The guy driving the car probably tipped you off!

So here we are into the opening

credits of Baba Yaga

starring Baby Doll herself, Carroll Baker

and the Anthropophagus

beast, George Eastman

The opening titles' graphics

reflect the fumetti origins of the material

more on this later...

Good grief!

We could be flippant

and say that it looks like that guy

is still wearing a black

crash-helmet, but we won't.

Here we have a verbal

introduction to the main character

responsible for many stuck together pages

across Europe: Valentina Rossetti

Needing no introduction is George Eastman

(Luigi Montefiori to his mum)

Ol' George discussing the merits of Goddard?

"Intoxically" surreal stuff!

Isabelle De Funes was cast purely

to keep the French investors happy

via a native actress in the lead

ensuring box-office returns back home.

Although Farina was initially unhappy

with this, his expectations

were confounded when she turned out

much better than anticipated.

Isn't that the cartoon kid

with the funny shaped head?

Animals are often used

as a symbol of or prelude to evil

but Baba Yaga avoids cat cliches

by a dog heralding the witch herself.

Putting a cat (or The Devil's Fingertips)

in peril leaves many cold

but placing a dog in jeopardy

rivets an audience more effectively.

Like so!

Farina perfectly introduces his title character

making the audience worship

Baba Yaga from her boots up.

And who wouldn't?

"Little" dog?

That thing would have your bloody arm off

without even pausing to say

"sausages", given half a chance!

Although different to

the original Fumetti book

Carroll Baker makes for a

convincingly seductive Baba Yaga.

Baker's no stranger to movies showing

various facets of evil in the world.

While Baba Yaga is more of

a spectral manifestation

those shown in Andy Warhol's

Bad embodied human evil

as anyone who has witnessed the chucking

of babies out of windows

and hideously splattering

on the ground will attest!

The asking for a personal item

by a witch is bad news

as it can be used to cast

a spell over someone.

Witches often bury their own menstrual blood

(very personal to them)

In order to cast a Wicca

protection spell.

In a Franco-like cameo is director Farina

playing a Nazi official.

Coming up is a prime example of footage excised

from the original release

being a small snippet of

full-frontal nudity from De Funes.

Boy, society is crashing down around us

because of exposure to such filth!

Newbies might be wondering exactly what

the Hell the Fumetti genre is

so allow us to throw

some light on the subject.

When comics were a resounding success

in America at the turn of the century

the same strips were snapped

up by the Italian market

who took a dislike to speech-bubbles

containing character\u82177?s dialogue,

and removed them in favour

of text at the foot of the page.

The bubbles were described as fumetti

little puffs of smoke

and thought to be

"uneducational" but the name stuck

and became an affectionate

term for all comics in Italy.

The imposed embargo on speech-bubbles

came to a natural end

and eventually, in the 30s ltaly's own "fumetti"

market began to emerge

shunning American favourites

for its own work.

While this had a lot to do with the far-right

politics of Italy at the time

and only lasted

until the end of the war

it gave the Italian market

confidence to compete in a field

dominated by US publications.

The Fumetti truly came of age

when the legendary Diabolik...

first hit the newsstands in the 60s, bringing

both a more mature edge

and a new layout which

became the industry standard.

Printed on 128 pages utilising bisected panels

and small enough to

fit in the pocket, comic books were now portable

and became all the rage with kids

in much the same way...

...that Star Wars action figures

outsold all their rivals

because all others were too big to be

comfortably transported around

by those who wanted fun on-the-go

As with any advances in media, the porno

market seized this handy format

and hardcore Fumetti publications

later became rife.

After a huge backlash against the more violent

darker crime publications (or Fumetti Neri)

A campaign one similar to

the McCarthy era crusade...

...against EC Comics and their contemporaries

an effort was made to bring

respectability back to the medium

with many literary luminaries...

...coming out in support, and the quality

of fumetto raised to a higher level

for a more adult audience.

Sure enough, it worked!

Whose celebrated creation

is the reason you are watching this Blu-ray.

From this new lease of respectability

came an artist named Guido Crepax

Obviously this isn't the entire

story of the Fumetti

with too much info out there

than we can print here!

Ask at your local library for books on the subject...

...and get promptly told to "sod off"

when your enquiry

exceeds the usual requests

of the new Patricia Cornwell.

Note the book De Funes is reading here:

The Crimes of Love by De Sade.

Many toss his books aside, too,

dismissing his work...

...as the product of

an imaginative pervert

The use of De Sade here can be seen as

a prelude to the famed S&I'm...

...imagery which appears later on in the film.

Man, that is one funky phone!

It beats the humble trim-phone...

...in the coolest retro communication

stakes, for our money!

Here is a perfect showcase for

the superb efforts of composer Piero Umiliani

contrasting against the more

frenetic music earlier.

Umiliani was something of a workhorse for

the European exploitation genre

notching up a list of credits

only Morricone could top.

He has contributed to every genre in the industry

lending his tones

to cult favorites like "Five Dolls for an August Moon"

and "Roy Colt & Winchester Jack"

Along with a host of Django rip-offs

to down-right odd movies -

such as the Blaxploitation/Giallo

fusion "Tropic of Cancer”.

Well, this is what happens

when you choose Arriflex...

...over Panavision cameras.

Want to bet he's using Eastman

colour film? Geddit?

He's called George Eastman

and there's a film stock...

Oh, forget it. Where's Bernard Manning

when you need him?

Ah, that's right.

We remember now. Oh well...

Farina squeezes a lot

of political commentary in Baba Yaga

that was a natural reflection of the

turbulent times it was made in.

The right-wing grip

was waning before left-wing intellectuals

leading to personal,

intellectual & sexual freedom previously denied.

Looks like George is just as

surprised as we are...

...that Valentina's going

to put out for him!

It's to Farina's credit that he maintains

Baba Yaga's omnipresence

without showing her

physical body, as he does here.

While Crepax's Baba Yaga might well have been

the first comic-book

to feature the legendary witch,

but certainly not the last.

Mike Mingola featured her in issue 3a

of his Hellboy books

a story entitled "Wake The Devil"

being an introduction to the character.

The following story

"The Baba Yaga", saw the witch confronting

the hornless spawn of Satan

and losing an eye for her trouble.

Mingola reveals that Baba Yaga hid

half of Rasputin's soul in the roots...

...of Yggdrasil AKA the World Tree

granting him eternal life.

This important detail was missed out

in the first Hellboy movie

and might have cleared up

a couple of incongruities.

Younger viewers might need to know that

at the time Baba Yaga was made

chicks really dug guys with beards

but since the 80s, it has become...

almost impossible for guys with full facial furniture

to get laid. But back then...

..."Cor! What a hunk" the ladies would cry.

Not any more, though.

Rather depressing, really.

Hope this clarifies just how come

ol' George is getting his end away.

Introducing the next damned soul

courtesy of Valentina's camera.

In that outfit, she's certainly

a hit with the chaps...

Jesus, if puns are a

symptom of depression, pass the Fluoxetine

Much has been written about the censorship

problems Farina encountered...

...in bringing Baba Yaga to the screen

with fanboy scribblings going so far

as to mention an unseen version

which bordered on hardcore pornography

but the real answer is both

more rational and interesting.

During the unstable political climate in Italy

Farina completed his final cut

of the movie, which was signed

& sealed. Farina thought this was

the end of the editing process,

but unbeknownst to him, the producer

had been hacking away at the film,

aiming to make it less controversial

and easier to sell in other markets.

As mentioned earlier, Farina squeezes in political

commentary into his movie,

there was much more in his cut.

Of the 20 minutes butchered from his vision

most of it was socio-political in nature

viewed by some as an act of government...

...censorship by proxy. Naturally Farina

was furious, and the Italian papers

carried his outrage... to his benefit.

He was given control of the negative

and was able to undo

some of the permanent damage to the materials

with a compromise being struck

- some of the political material could

be restored, with the nonessential

sequences, mostly lifted from Crepax, discarded.

Whilst this was a minor

victory, the shots of full-frontal

nudity fell afoul of the Italian censor board,

and were not reinstated.

The movie had been recut completely

as the negative had been finalised

but Farina got the movie closer to

his vision than he would have if he had

remained silent... an example to

PG-13 obsessed producers everywhere.

Shameless has worked closely with

Farina to bring you the most complete

version of Baba Yaga ever.

Furry front bits included!

Whatever you can say about

the way Baker's career has gone

convention has never been

used in a description of her.

This is the actress who shocked

audiences in the notorious "Baby Doll",

branching into epics like

"How The West Was Won", "The Big Country"

and "The Greatest Story Ever Told"

then going into exploitation

classics like "Orgasmo" & "Paranoia”

before ending up in the Margi Clarke

boxing vehicle "Blonde Fist"!

Jeez, it sounds like somebody's

using the pest-control device...

...from The Living Dead

at Manchester Morgue!

Oscilloscope included!

Now we come to an extended

sequence which contains

...some of the most iconic

imagery from the movie.

Even those who

have only heard of Baba Yaga

associate with bondage

imagery and lesbianism.

Obviously not forgetting

everybody's favourite:

The doll in bondage! Yay!

Valentina's seduction

by the caress of a leather glove...

...Is a common catalyst for many

who embrace the fetish scene.

Farina presents a literal translation

of Fumetti to the screen

with the incredible use of photographs

allowing him to depict

explicit content which would

have caused many problems

if they had been filmed live-action.

Old genre proverb: Beware Russian

witches bearing gifts!

OK, who thinks she's

been shopping at QVC?

...So always keep the

certificate of authenticity!

De Funes was primarily a TV actress, with only

a few credits to her name

but little baggage meant

she could become Valentina completely.

As captivating as she is

Baba Yaga did little for De Funes' career

with only two major screen

credits to her name after release.

The board literally translates as:

"God died and now you know it!"

Farina sharply depicts the

turbulent times Italy was living in

at the time the movie was made.

Not only were times changing

but Italy was at war with itself,

as its' youth and disquiet organisations

like the Brigate Rosse / Red Brigades were

"assisting" the winds of change in their own ways.

Here we get to see the first real

example of Baba Yaga's power

as she steers Valentina's path

toward her by dropping dead bodies

at her feet, simultaneously

spiting the Catholics as she goes.

Police/Nazis... Nazis/Police.

We've all thought it before...

The following sequence gets

our vote for the most brilliantly surreal...

segment of the movie.

The majority of it clearly existed

from the original prints...

...but is presented for your delectation here.

You didn't get Burgess Meredith

touching up Sylvester Stallone, did you?

Looks like she's out for the count...

we said count!

The "V" on the back of

the robe is a nice detail.

Valentina comes out swinging...

but then what else is new?

Here we have the most explicitly lesbian

scene left in the "standard" cut.

Unspoken seduction seems more

acceptable than the stroking of thighs...

...although creative cutting prevents

any actual physical contact.

So once again: tits = OK.

Furry bits below the waist = wrong.

Esther Rantzen's "That's Life"

formula comes through again!

Don't do it!! Didn't you see

"The Vault of Horror" with Tom Baker

earlier that year???

"Yes, Commissioner?"

Bugger... force of habit...

Let's see her try that old

trick with a digital network.

Once again, Baba Yaga's power pervades

without having to resort to

clichéd imagery of

cauldrons and pointed hats.

There are those who have speculated

that the way Valentina is manipulated

by her own curiosity into the witch's lair might

have inspired Dario Argento

in how Suzie Banyan finds her way

into the clutches of the Black Queen

and Mark Elliot into the

domain of Mater Tenebrarum.

OK, so we do have a witch with a cat,

but if cliché was being followed,

then it would have been a black one.

Which, with knowing irony,

segues us into a sequence which might have

been horribly offensive in the hands

of a director without Farina's touch.

It's up to the viewer as to whether

you interpret this shot as

either the character being bewitched

by Baba Yaga's image in the doll

or the more obvious approach...

Ah, the spirit of Leonard Rossiter's

Mr Rigsby lives on...

Valentina...s camera plays a bigger part

in the unfolding events than

she can possibly comprehend...

Here we have the

"checkerboard-chicks" sequence

outdoing Mandingo by a couple of years.

Farina skilfully contrasts

the two skin tones

neatly avoiding the "smut"

angle easily blundered into.

All this only a few scant years after

Star Trek had southern rednecks

up in arms about the same sort of thing!

Farina started out in film

like many of those after him,

by making 8mm films. Where some like Sam Raimi had the luxury of

having access to equipment at home.

Farina used the facilities at Torino...

film school, where he used it as an escape

from a law degree he didn't want.

Farina then found himself employed

by Studio Testa,

where he was something of a wunderkind

turning out over 500 commercials during his stay.

Even this wasn't satisfying him, as his

aspirations to get into film were too strong.

From an early age, Farina caught "cinephilia"

as he puts it... and was obsessed with film,

his urge initially slaked by

writing about film, but ultimately wanted

to direct his own projects.

Farina was not exactly prolific

when it came to his movie career

with Baba Yaga being the

culmination of his movie work.

Producers decided Farina's artistic

abilities didn't equal box-office.

He was unable to get financing for others,

instead being forced into

the world of documentary filmmaking

which granted him work

but not the artistic freedom he craved.

Farina still viewed it as a compromise,

calling himself a director first

and a documentarian second

OK, even with the irony intended

this bit still causes upset today...

Not wishing to be puerile, but here comes

a cracking exchange of innuendo:

It's as though Farina's using the concept

of infinite regression...

...or it might be that he's

stepped out of frame with the B-camera.

We're not saying that ol' George is cheap

but when you ask him

for a ritzy date, the Anthropophagus Beast

(or Grim Reaper, to you importers)

This is what you get:

an inexpensive bottle of vino rosso...

...a small pizza eaten with cutlery...

...and more fags than you can smoke!

Rothmans! Good ol' "lung-bleeders”

as they were affectionately known.

Baba Yaga came shortly after

dissolution of De Funes' short-lived marriage

to prolific French actor Michel Duchaussoy...

You might remember him

from such films as:

"Man with the Transplanted Brain"...

"The Return of the Tall Blonde",

"Man with one Red Shoe"...

...and "Poltergay".

Valentina has just inadvertently brought in

a classic Giallo element

to the movie, where the central

character wracks their brain

trying to remember a vital element they

have seen, a small detail which

can unravel the mystery

enveloping them.

Once again, Shameless

have scoured the vaults...

...to bring you the most

complete version of Baba Yaga.

We know that if you are smart enough

to be watching this movie

then you aren't one of the arseholes

with redneck mentality of:

"I don't want to read the movie,

I want to watch it!"

Isn't that a picture of Herman Munster on the wall,

rather than Frankenstein?

Ah, "The Golem": a movie which

needs no introduction to genre fans.

Wanna bet that the print they are watching

isn't nearly as butchered

as the average copy found in

the DVD bargain bins!

Jesus! We've nearly hit the hour mark

and have only mentioned...

...Guido Crepax in passing!

The father of so much fantastic smut...

Milanese artist Crepax's career in

graphic design was lauded early on.

Not stopping at just designing posters

he also worked on album covers

for the likes of Louis Armstrong,

Fats Waller & Charlie "Bird" Parker.

After an award-winning

stint in the world of advertising

Crepax took his talents

into the world of comics

where he could give his vivid

imagination free reign

It was only after two years' toil that,

in 1965, Crepax created his muse:

Valentina, a character who obsessed

her creator & bewitched readers.

Originally appearing as a

minor character in his Neutron saga

Crepax expanded the character and gave her

an existence of her own...

...one outside the confinements out of Linus

magazine where she first appeared.

Crepax managed to tear himself away from

his muse in 1967 just long enough...

to design the storyboards for

the Tinto Brass movie "Deadly Sweet"

...the pairing of Brass and Crepax

who designed Valentina to have...

...the most perfect arse

in creation was inspired!

Come 1968, Valentina was her own girl

appearing in over 30 solo books

whilst exploring various facets

of sexuality as she went.

It was in 1971 that Crepax put his

own slant on Baba Yaga

the Russian folk-tale of the

hideous, iron-toothed witch.

That we are all watching this Blu-ray

is proof of bewitching nature

of Crepax's celebrated work.

Crepax's career eventually took him

Baba Yaga (1973) - full transcript