
Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka
(Vechera na khutore bliz Dikanki)
Screening on Film
Directed by Aleksandr Rou.
With Aleksandr Khvylya, Yuri Tavrov, Lyudmila Khityayeva.
USSR, 1961, 35mm, color, 69 min.
Russian with English subtitles.
With Aleksandr Khvylya, Yuri Tavrov, Lyudmila Khityayeva.
USSR, 1961, 35mm, color, 69 min.
Russian with English subtitles.
A glorious excursion into Technicolor fantasy and a film that remains very true to the spirit of Russian/Ukrainian master Nikolai Gogol, Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka is one of the most beautiful works in the rich strain of Russian cinematic fantasy. The tale of a blacksmith from a darkened village sent on an endless quest on Christmas Eve by his beloved (with a stop along the way for a conference with the devil) has been filmed a few times throughout Russian film history, but never with so much charm and such rich feeling for the satiric, folkloric power of the source material.