He directed a number of children's fantasy films, based mostly on Russian folklore that were highly popular and often imitated in the Soviet Union.

[3] His father worked in Yuryevets and in 1914 returned to Ireland, leaving the family in unstable Russia.

They were a part of folk revival trend in the Soviet cinema, alongside films by Aleksandr Ptushko, Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Lev Atamanov, and others.

Rou's movies were immensely popular in the Soviet Union and set up a tradition of fantasy films that was followed by the younger directors.

Rou died in 1973 in a Moscow hospital while working on pre-production of his final movie Finist, the brave Falcon.