“Celestial Wives” could be translated as ‘heavenly wives’ or ‘supernatural (married) women’, and although the almost two dozen protagonists are not all married, they seem to be connected to the non-material world in a diffuse way. They are distinctive, sensual, fun-loving, they enjoy sex, have a strong will and don't let anyone take the butter off their bread. They are wise women, witches, sirens, elves. They are the salt of the earth.
With Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari, Aleksei Fedorchenko - 1966, trained as an engineer and active as a director, screenwriter and producer since the 1990s - returns to the setting and cultural sphere of his previous, internationally successful film. Silent Souls (2010), also based on a book by Denis Osokin, was also set in the world of the Mari, a Finno-Ugric people living in the Volga region of western Russia, whose members are considered the last pagans of Europe and are characterized by pagan rituals. But Fedorchenko surrenders less to the allure of folklore or the exoticism of magical practices than to lavish nudity and all kinds of forms of desire. He lets the women keep their secrets, poses a few riddles to the audience and unabashedly indulges his desire to be seen. He has probably been bewitched.
