Metrograph

Loosely adapted from an 1830 short story of the same title (also known as “St. John’s Eve”) by Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol, Illienko’s second feature as director is the symbol-rich tale of a farmer, Petro (Boris Khmelnitsky), who, prevented from wedding the lovely Pidorka (Larisa Kadochnikova) by her disapproving father, turns for assistance to a demon who promises to expedite their union… for a price, of course. A key inspiration for Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu, The Eve of Ivan Kupalo, like A Spring for the Thirsty before it, is distinguished by Leonid Hrabovsky’s intricately designed soundscapes, here employed to create and sustain a pervasive atmosphere of otherworldly strangeness.

Introduction by Pylyp Illienko, Film Producer and son of Yuri Illienko on Friday, November 14th

35mm Sovscope print from Yuri Illienko's personal collection