The Little Mermaid (1976)

Malá morská víla watches her prince from the rocks

Beloved throughout Europe and the former Soviet Union, but little seen in the English-speaking world, Karel Kachyna's 1976 adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid is a work of beauty and enchantment that can stand alongside Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast as one of the all time great cinematic fairy tale adaptations.  Like Cocteau's film, Kachyna's stunning imagery evokes the magic and terror that makes their respective fairy tales such primal, resilient narratives.