History Literature / TheScarletSails

* FormerTeenRebel: Lionel Grey, the prim aristocrat, used to be quite mischievous when he was a boy. He recognizes the traits of his young self in his son – only Arthur remains rebellious after growing up as well.

* AdaptationalContextChange: Both in the book and in this movie, Gray asks Menners Jr. about Assol, and Menners Jr. says she is crazy and mockingly describes her dream of the scarlet sails. However, in the book, he does it [[KickTheDog just out of general nastiness]], while here, he is in love with her himself and wants to make sure Gray would lose interest in her.

''The Scarlet Sails'' is a classic in the Eastern Bloc and especially Russia as a symbol of everlasting hope, dream, and love, with several film adaptations, a rock opera, and a musical based on it, as well as a famous St.-Petersburg summer festival inspired by the book.

[[folder:2010 musical]]
* AdaptationalHeroism: Egl isn't evil in the book, but he has a case of DidntThinkThisThrough with his prophecy, since he wants to create a beautiful story without properly considering how it would affect Assol. In the musical, he makes the prophecy because he knows it will come true, and, unlike in the book where he only appears once, supports Assol until the ending.
* AdaptationalJerkass:
** Longren becomes a drunkard and snaps at Assol that she's crazy, something he would ''never'' do in the book.
** In general, the ostracism Assol faces is partly shown as Longren's own fault, since he refuses to let her socialize with other people at the tavern (the one time she does come there after a quarrel with him, everyone save for Mrs. Menners is perfectly accepting of her and happy for her to join in the singing).
* AdaptationalMundanity: Inverted. In the book, Egl only pretends to be a magician and thinks up the scarlet sails to amuse himself even more than Assol, and he barely even thinks whether she'll take his story seriously. In the musical, he does have magic powers, and therefore his prophecy is more accurate (instead of a generic unnamed handsome prince, he specifically mentions a captain named Grey).
* AscendedExtra:
** Mrs. Menners is TheGhost in the book and a prominent supporing character here.
** Egl is a SmallRoleBigImpact in the book, appearing for a single scene, but is present here throughout the entire musical.
* CannotSpitItOut: During all of his VillainLoveSong, Menners Jr. is unable to clearly tell Assol he loves her. Instead, he later visits Longren in prison and asks him to relay that to her.
* CanonForeigner: The priest and the ''Lighthouse'''s owner don't appear in the book.
* ChurchOfSaintGenericus: It's left unclear which Christian denomination the priest belongs to.
* CrisisOfFaith: Assol, feeling disillusioned and depressed, asks the local priest to help her, only to find out that '''he'' is suffering from doubts as well. In their duet, they try to give each other strength, and Assol begs the priest to keep his faith, since, well, if ''he'' wouldn't do that, who ''would''?
* DarkerAndEdgier: Oh dear. Where to start...
** Rather than rejecting Menners Sr.'s advances and dying of pneumonia, Mary is ''gang-raped'' in his tavern and drowns herself.
** Longren turns to DrowningMySorrows and gets jailed.
** Assol gets a ScarpiaUltimatum from Menners Jr., then very nearly turns to prostitution rather than accept it, then accepts it and is very nearly forced to marry him.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Mrs. Menners is enraged that her son wants to marry Assol, whom she believes to be crazy and whom she loathes for being Longren's daughter. Longren, meanwhile, would rather stay in prison than see Assol marry Menners Sr.
* DemotedToExtra: Grey's storyline is cut so much that he hardly appears outside Assol's dream sequences.
* GoodShepherd: The priest tries to help and instruct the villagers of Kaperna (problem is, they aren't always listening) and starts the marriage ceremony for Assol and Menners Jr. very slowly, allowing Grey time to save Assol before the WeddingDeadline.
* GreekChorus: The villagers often comment on what's happening (or, in case of Mary's suicide, explain what's happening).
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: The ''Lighthouse'''s owner (MissKitty, but still doing the job herself as well) is very kind with Assol and offers to lend her money (only suggesting that Assol works for her for that money as an alternative option). She later tells Grey about who Assol is, though by doing that she loses him as her customer, and instantly agrees to give him all her supply of red wine to dye his sails scarlet. In her songs, she confesses that even by keeping her, well, establishment she genuinely wants to give men "some love for an hour or a night, if they haven't found the love that lasts forever".
* MythologyGag:
** Menners Jr., in his VillainLoveSong, offers to buy all the red silk available to make the scarlet sails for Assol. That's the way the scarlet sails ''were'' made in the book, while here, Grey simply dyes his white sails in wine.
** Menners Jr. accuses Egl of planting the whole scarlet sails idea into Assol's head. Egl admits that in a way, the young man's right: it's not enough to sow the seeds of a huge dream and then just walk away. In the book, the narration remarks that Egl did ''not'' think of that.
* OminousChanting: Three especially dramatic scenes are accompanied by the villagers and the priest singing a prayer. For example, such is the wedding celebration of Assol and Menners Jr.:
-->'''GossipyHens''': But she's a fool, such a fool, and she'll dress all in gold! And look how downcast Longren is!
-->'''The priest''' (chanting slowly and looking clearly uncomfortable): Bless them, o Lord, bless them, o Lord!
* PromotedToLoveInterest: Assol for Menners Jr., even more so than in the 1982 film. He actively pursues and very nearly marries her (Grey's ship appears when they are already [[WeddingDeadline at the altar]]).
* RunawayBride: Assol jumps into Grey's arms right as she is being led to the altar by Menners Jr. Since the latter forced her to agree to the marriage, it's hard to judge her.
* ShoutOut: The girls at the brothel snicker that Assol is waiting for [[Theatre/TheFlyingDutchman the Flying Dutchman]].
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Menners Sr. has one single scene, and it sets the whole plot in motion. He (along with his guests) [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapes Mary]]; Mary can't deal with the trauma and kills herself; Longren lets Menners Sr. drown in revenge, leaving Mrs. Menners with a burning hatred of him and Assol; Mrs. Menners comes to Assol's birthday and calls Longren out, leading him to angrily leave Assol; and while Assol is weeping, she is consoled by Egl who tells her about the scarlet sails...
* SparedByTheAdaptation: A minor case. In the book, it's implied that the wife of Menners Sr. died at some point before Grey's arrival in Kaperna. In the musical, she is very much alive.
* TookALevelInKindness:
** In some productions, Menners Jr., at literally his last spoken line before the final chorus, finally leaves his EntitledToHaveYou attitude behind and tells Assol to go to Grey.
** The entire village, previously disdainful of Assol, sings the final chorus with her and Grey.
* VillainLoveSong: Menners Jr. gets one ("You Are Not Like the Others"), and such a beautiful and touching song it is, too. He tells Assol that he loves her precisely because she is different from the crowd, that he is ready to marry her even if she only wants his money, and that he longs for some happiness even in a dreary and mundane place like their village. Unfortunately, before that, he also informs her that [[ScarpiaUltimatum only by marrying him can she save her father from prison]].
* WeddingDeadline: Highly important in the final scenes. Grey rushes to prepare the scarlet sails and rescue Assol before she is married off to Menners Jr., and when Grey's ship appears, Menners Jr. in most productions shouts at the priest to go on with the ceremony, apparently hoping to [[SkipToTheEnd get it finalized]] while the ship's still far enough.
* YoungLoveVersusOldHate: To make it more complicated, it's one-sided young love to boot. Longren and Mrs. Menners ''loathe'' each other, but Menners Jr. is madly in love with Assol, who pities him but doesn't love him.
[[/folder]]

* WeddingDeadline: Highly important in the final scenes. Grey rushes to prepare the scarlet sails and rescue Assol before she is married off to Menners Jr., and when Grey's ship appears, Menners Jr. shouts at the priest to go on with the ceremony, apparently hoping to get it finalized while the ship's still far enough.

* RunawayBride: In the musical, Assol jumps into Grey's arms right as she is being led to the altar by Menners Jr. Since the latter forced her to agree to the marriage, it's hard to judge her.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Longren becomes a drunkard and snaps at Assol that she's crazy, something he would ''never'' do in the book.

* GoodShepherd: The priest tries to help and instruct the villagers of Kaperna (problem is, they aren't always listening), rushes to stop Assol from committing suicide, and hesitates to start the marriage ceremony for Assol and Menners Jr., allowing Grey time to save Assol before the WeddingDeadline.

** Menners Jr., at literally his last spoken line before the final chorus, finally leaves his EntitledToHaveYou attitude behind and tells Assol to go to Grey.

* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Egl appears in Kaperna when Assol is a baby rather than when Assol is around ten, as in the book.

* AscendedExtra: Mrs. Menners was TheGhost in the book and a prominent supporing character here.

* YoungLoveVersusOldHate: To make it more complicated, it's one-sided young love to boot. Longren and Mrs. Menners ''loathe'' each other, but Menners Jr. is madly in love with Assol, who pities him but doesn't love him. Menners Jr.'s idea of marrying Assol enrages both of their parents.

* TookALevelInKindness: Menners Jr., at literally his last spoken line before the final chorus, finally leaves his EntitledToHaveYou attitude behind and tells Assol to go to Grey.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The musical is way, way darker than the book. The characters (most notably Longren and Grey) are made much more cynical, Mary's ordeal changes from getting and refusing a ScarpiaUltimatum to actually getting raped, Assol's dreamy nature verges on actual madness, and Menners Jr., who in the book does nothing more than badmouth Assol, here is infatuated with her and forces her to marry him.

* OhCrap: Menners Jr. stares in shock and then freaks out when he sees a ship with scarlet sails approaching Kaperna. It's not just that it means he DidntGetTheGirl: his whole outlook on life is being turned upside down.

* BettyAndVeronica: Situation-wise, Menners Jr. is the Betty since he has known Assol since childhood and is well-respected in the village as the local innkeeper, while Grey is the Veronica, as he, for a long time, is only known to Assol as her imaginary PrinceCharming, and is shown to be a RebelliousPrince when he does appear onscreen. Personality-wise, Grey is the Betty, being kind, noble and idealistic, while self-assured, cynical ReformedBully Menners Jr. is the Veronica.

* OhCrap: Menners Jr. stares in shock and then freaks out when he sees a ship with scarlet sails approaching Kaperna. It's not just that it means he DidnGetTheGirl: his whole outlook on life is being turned upside down.

* FormerTeenRebel: Lionel Grey, the prim aristocrat, used to be quite mischievous when he was a boy. He recognizes the traits of his young self in his son – only Arthur remains rebellious after growing up.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The mundane life scenes are monochrome. Whenever anything out of the ordinary (not necessarily fantastic) appears, it is shown in colour.

[[folder:''Assol'' (1982 film)]]

[[folder:''Assol'']]

''The Scarlet Sails'' is a classic in the Eastern Bloc and especially Russia as a symbol of everlasting hope, dream and love, with several film adaptations, a rock opera and a musical based on it, as well as a famous St.-Petersburg summer festival inspired by the book.

!! The book contains examples of:

!! Tropes specific to ''The Scarlet Sails'' (1961 film)

!! Tropes specific to ''Assol'' (1982 film)

* GoneHorriblyWrong: Menners Jr. tells Grey that Assol is a madwoman dreaming of a prince under scarlet sails – hoping, it’s implied, to discourage a potential rival. Instead, he achieves the exact opposite. Grey only becomes even more certain Assol is his true love.

* ReformedBully: After being Assol’s main bully in their childhood, Menners Jr. becomes better as they grow up – even before he completely reforms, along with the entire village, in the end. Unlike his counterpart from the musical, he is respectful of her in his attempt at flirting.
!! Tropes specific to ''The Scarlet Sails'' (2010 musical)

* SparedByTheAdaptation: A minor case. In the book, it’s implied that the wife of Menners Sr. died at some point before Grey’s arrival in Kaperna. In the musical, she is very much alive.
* VillainLoveSong: Menners Jr. gets one ("You Are Not Like the Others"), and such a beautiful and touching song it is, too. He tells Assol that he loves her precisely because she is different from the crowd, that he is ready to marry her even if she only wants his money, and that he longs for some happiness even in a dreary and mundane place like their village. Unfortunately, before that, he also informs her that [[ScarpiaUltimatum only by marrying him can she save her father from prison]].