Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka

Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka is a fun, holiday time film adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s story, The Night Before Christmas.

Directed by fantasy film legend, Alexander Rou, the movie brilliantly describes traditional village life in Ukraine. The peasants’ sense of humor, ability to walk on a grand scale, and the winter holiday festivities are all excellently conveyed.

However, the movie is not all songs and dances. Quite unsuitably for Christmas Eve, a devil with a long tail, a pork snout, and vicious intentions arrives in Dikanka. He tries to perform dirty tricks, but eventually falls under the the control of the local blacksmith, Vakula.

Vakula, though, has even more important concerns. He is in love with the most beautiful girl in the village, Oksana. However, she has a sharp temper and is not at all receptive to Vakula’s affections. Instead, she demands he get her a pair of slippers fit for the queen herself.

And so, Vakula travels to St. Petersburg, riding on the devil’s back, to get a set of slippers from the empress herself!

• 1960s
• English & Русский
• English subtitles
• Soviet Union
• Русские субтитры