The Night Before Christmas, also known as Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka (Russian: Вечера на хуторе близ Диканьки, romanized: Vechera na khutore bliz Dikanki), is a 1961 Soviet fantasy film directed by Aleksandr Rou, based on a "Christmas Eve", first story in the second volume of the 1832 collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol.
Contents
Plot
The story is set near the village of Dikanka on the night before Christmas. As the villagers take part in carol singing, drinking, and courtship, the blacksmith Vakula persuades the Devil to fly him to Saint Petersburg. There he hopes to obtain a pair of the Empress's shoes in order to win the affection of Oksana.
Cast
Aleksandr Khvylya as Chub
Lyudmyla Myznikova as Oksana
Yuri Tavrov as Vakula
Lyudmila Khityaeva as Solokha
Sergei Martinson as Osip, the Sacristan
Anatoly Kubatsky as Panas
Vera Altayskaya as Wife of Panas
Dmitri Kapka as Shanuvalenko
Mykola Yakovchenko as Patsyuk
Maryna Sidorchuk as Odarka
Aleksandr Radunsky as The Head
Georgi Millyar as The Devil / gossip girl
Aleksei Smirnov as ambassador
Irina Murzaeva as gossip woman
Andrei Demyanenko as Sverbyguz