Die Nacht vor Weihnachten

It's pre-Christmas time, people are at home a lot, often old and young together. It's not uncommon to switch on the TV and watch a family film. You've seen the classics many times, but the films from the second series and especially the newer productions are usually more of a torture than a nice, cosy watch together. But there are also insider tips, lesser-known treasures, and this is definitely one of them. A magical fairy tale, ideal for the current times. And magical really hits the nail on the head, something like this cannot be reproduced today. The colours, Bava must have been delighted, the timeless tricks, it works without CGI, it works better without CGI, the backdrops, as if sprung from a dream, the surreal yet realistic atmosphere and last but not least the pleasant running time.

Add it to your programme, every year.

In the best tradition of Soviet fantasy, Dikanka is entertaining from start to finish. There isn't much a plot (hijinks during the night), but the practical effects are charming, and I laughed harder than I had in a long time.

The best element is the Devil himself. Rather than a figure of fear and evil, the Devil is a hairy, silly fellow who keeps busy by tormenting a blacksmith who drew a religious picture that the Devil found particularly offensive. In addition, there are a horde of lusty and/or drunken townsmen, and a cameo by the Tsarina herself. Also, a "Three's Company"-esquire set piece where character after character must hide out in the local witch's hut.

I have seen a few Russian fairy tales and adventure movies from the same time which I enjoyed watching. This one about a blacksmith/painter and the devil and their struggle with each other I did find quite lackluster though.

The movie has nice color pictures for this sort of story. But the story feels like it moves in slow motion. The movie is only just over an hour long but I was bored before it ended. Things like special effects were handled by showing the movie backwards all the time. 10th time you see the movie going backwards it is not cute anymore.

You can find much better Russian movies and fairy tales from the same time period. I would suggest watching Mariya-iskusnitsa (1960) instead that I found more entertaining.

The name of film was taken from Mykola Hohol's famous tales collection. The story chosen by Aleksandr Rou exist originally in that collection under the name of "Evening before Christmas".

The tale is beautifully made to show the amazing verity of traditions in culture in the middle between Europe and Eastern part of the world. How does people managed to have fun, love, laugh and be open to each other as well as to cherish the holiday's sacred meaning . And it is obvious how Hohol wanted to show it in the best light he imagined it to be while reading story-letters from his Ukraine - rooting mother.

Disappointment hit me hard when I took a look on the most funny moments of the tale filmed by Aleksandr Rou and found it made up disgusting. So than you can't normally relate yourself to most of the characters. Maybe that is why no empathy towards characters was born in me. Speaking about actors - none of the filmed personalities hadn't found their piece of fame through the life of their . The visual part of the movie correspondingly to the era it was filmed in - nothing special behalf a Devil and man who manipulates varenyky with the help of mindforce.

Director knows how to work with hyperbola. It goes out of the picture that Ukrainians are drinking 24/7 , loud, rude people who are always hungry. It grew into nowadays stereotypes.

To sump I would rather recommend to watch it without presumption that all depicted is true but to enjoy the tradition. As for me it interesting to compare how my homeland was seen by land over the border and how I was hearing and feeling it was.

This remarkable work merges into one powerful creative stream the genius of two outstanding figures of Russian culture: the writer Nikolay Gogol and the filmmaker-storyteller Alexander Rowe.

Gogol, a close friend of Pushkin, is a very original Russian writer, whose childhood and youth were spent in South-West Russia, also known as Little Russia or the Ukraine. He was one of the first to notice and embody the enormous literary potential of Little Russian life and folk art. The story "The Night Before Christmas", on which this film was shot, opens the cycle of his Little Russian works.

You might think that this is a typical love story, but in fact this is only the background, and in moral terms the Blacksmith, who fell in love with an arrogant and frivolous girl, is no better than the lustful Deacon who came to the Witch at night. This fits in well with the general outline of Russian literature, which traditionally looks down on the base passions of man. This is, first of all, a story about the triumph in a person's soul at Christmas in the context of a distinctive southern Russian village, which perfectly conveyed its atmosphere with all the qualities characteristic of the people of southern Russia, such as a sense of humor, kindness, broad soul, the ability to both deeply immerse themselves in thought and to walk, sing and have fun on all holidays, especially Christmas and Easter.

There is no evil in this story, the evil is leveled down to petty human vices, the victory over which is symbolized by the solemn worship at the end. Even the devil, played by the brilliant Georgiy Millyar, is not an enemy of humanity here, but the same victim of his own petty vindictiveness, appearing in an exclusively comical image. This is an exceptionally kind Soviet film for a kind holiday like Christmas and New Year.