Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors (—)

Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors (Russian: Korolevstvo krivykh zerkal) is a 1963 Soviet family fantasy film directed by Aleksandr Rou. Based on the fairy tale novel of the same name by Vitaly Gubarev, the movie was produced by Mosfilm and released on August 28, 1963. The screenplay was co-written by Lev Arkadyev and Gubarev himself, blending whimsical adventure with subtle social commentary.

The story follows a young girl named Olya who discovers that her reflection, Yalo, can communicate with her from inside a mirror. She is transported to the Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors, a parallel world ruled by King Yagupop (an anagram for "parrot") where reality is distorted by tyrannical nobles using curved mirrors to manipulate the populace. To save her mirror-self's friend, the craftsman Gurd, Olya and Yalo must uncover the truth behind the distortion and restore justice to the kingdom.

The film is widely regarded as a classic of Soviet children's cinema and shares thematic similarities with Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, featuring a child protagonist entering a strange land governed by irrational rules. It remains popular for its creative use of special effects for its time and its clever linguistic play involving reversed names and words throughout the narrative.

• The title character Yalo is simply "Olya" spelled backward, while the villainous king Yagupop is the Russian word for parrot (popugay) reversed.
• Director Aleksandr Rou was known for his expertise in visual effects and stage magic, which he incorporated extensively into this production.
• The film features Olga Yukina and Tatyana Yukina, who are sisters, playing the dual roles of Olya and Yalo.
• It was one of the first Soviet films to successfully combine live-action with complex optical illusions designed to simulate the warping of mirrors.