In the remote Ukrainian village of Dikanka, handsome but poor Vakula loves the beautiful Oxana, but she's holding out for a wealthy prince, and her father doesn't think much of him either. On Christmas Eve she sends him on a ridiculous quest for dancing shoes that takes him all the way to the imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with the help of some odd characters from the village and the Devil himself.
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Reviews
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
The gentleman from Canada in his review pointed that this film may be of interest to the Slavs. I happen to be of Slavic culture and obviously read Gogol in original, but to me this film is simply an atrocious adaptation attempt. You'll be better served by a 1961 version of Gogol's novel. This one is simply a sub-product of overbearing c-grade pop culture, loaded with bad acting, inferior directing skills and underlined by incoherent script. While there have been a few examples of talented adaptations on Putin-controlled television, this is not one of those. You'll have much better December 31 if you skip this vulgar nonsense in all entirety. However, if you have had a kilo of vodka by mid-afternoon, hit that play button, it might merge well with deep intoxication. After all this was the intended audience for this opus. Philip Kirkorov in Gogol's novel? Hey, this definitely caused the classic to turn in his grave.
I've seen this the night it came out, The New Year's Eve and it was, well...interesting. I mean, I knew the story it had followed and though I wouldn't say it was accurate it was still pretty good. The singers they chose were fabulous and it incredibly amusing to watch Fillip play a devil because he turned out to be a great one. Most of the songs were very good and I vowed to find them someday but there were some that were quite unemotional and, in fact, boring. But in overall, this is worth a check and it may bring some entertainment to you. Still, it's best to watch on the 31st of December rather than any other time of year. Gives you "the" feeling. Worth a check. (I very very much doubt there is even a version with subtitles though)
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