Great Effects in: 'Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka'

Day 2: Film with Great Effects

My first thought for this one was “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka”/“The Night Before Christmas” (1961), mostly just a little too Gogol-esque and strange for me but the opening with a woman collecting stars from the sky is marvellously crafted. It’s so beautifully made that it’s a joy to watch, like a moving stained-glass painting with icing-like intricacy and a fantastical fiery glow, a little stained-glass window into Christmas in a little Slavic village of days gone by Xo