Anastasiy Simonov

To justify the fantastic adventures of the blacksmith Vakula, the authors of the film “simplify” Gogol’s plot: Vakula, having drunk too much at Patsiuk’s place, falls asleep. And he sees this dream where the devil takes him to the palace of Catherine II in Saint-Petersburg; and there Vakula takes off the little shoes of the Russian empress to give them to his fiancée Oksana. And, really, drunk Vakula takes off the shoes while sleeping… but from Patsiuk. Later, when Vakula unwraps the package with the “royal slippers” in front of Oksana, he finds only Patsiuk’s dirty shoes there.

The momentous film stars Mykola Nademskyi as the grandfather of Tymish (Semen Svashenko), whom he alerts to secret treasure buried in the mountains of Zvenygora – Treasure that rightfully belongs to his homeland. The film wonderfully blends both lyricism and politics and uses its central construct to build a montage praising Ukrainian industrialization, attacking the bourgeoisie, celebrating the beauty of the Ukrainian steppe and retelling ancient folklore. Said Sergei Eisenstein of the film, "As the lights went on, we felt that we had just witnessed a memorable event in the development of the cinema".

The bourgeois wedding of Dekabryukhova is interrupted by the machine-gun fire of revolution. He flees abroad, leaving his wife. Oktyabryukhov stays and adapts to the new life. At the end of the picture there is an attempt at universal reconciliation and the poet's tormenting theme "three-way love". Dekabryuhov returns to his homeland. His wife is already married to Oktyabryukhov. Having learned about it, Dekabryukhov tries to leave, but the newlyweds force him to stay.

The poor tailor Perchyk who dreams to buy a she-goat lives in a small town. Meanwhile, Perchyk’s daughter Frida falls in love with the unemployed Elia Perchyk is totally against their marriage, as he cannot buy a she-goat if the son-in-law does not have any money. Finally, Perchyk buys a she-goat from a rich tavern owner but he gives him… a goat. Moreover, a police officer dissatisfied with the tailored uniform forges a document, according to which Perchyk and his whole family are expelled from the town as troublemakers.

At the "Pupky" station, an opportunity occurs: two illegal passengers - guinea pigs - have to be disembarked from one of the trains, since animals cannot be transported in a general carriage. The head of the station Pryvychkin tries to help the animals, but the situation is beyond his control. The audit committee sets out to investigate the unpleasant incident... This witty satirical comedy, in which bureaucracy, bourgeoisie and provincialism are mocked, continued the development of the domestic comedy genre in Ukrainian Soviet cinema.

Hamburg