| The Night Before Christmas | |
| Director: | Aleksandr Rou |
| Starring: | Alexander Khvylya Lyudmila Myznikova Yuri Tavrov Lyudmila Khityaeva Sergey Martinson Anatoly Kubatsky Georgy Millyar |
| Music: | Arkadi Filippenko |
| Cinematography: | Dmitri Surensky |
| Editing: | Kseniya Blinova |
| Studio: | Gorky Film Studio |
| Runtime: | 69 minutes |
| Country: | Soviet Union |
| Language: | Russian |
The Night Before Christmas, also known as Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka (Russian: Вечера на хуторе близ Диканьки|Vechera na khutore bliz Dikanki), is a 1961 Soviet fantasy film directed by Aleksandr Rou,[1] based on a "Christmas Eve", first story in the second volume of the 1832 collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol.[2]
This eccentric and fantastical fairy tale takes place near the village of Dikanka on the night before Christmas. Amid carol singing, drunken revelry, and amorous hijinks, the blacksmith Vakula persuades the Devil to fly him to Saint Petersburg, where he hopes to obtain a pair of the Empress's heels which might win him Oksana's love.