Sorochynskyi yarmarok

Deep in the heart of the Poltava region, the village of Sorochyntsi erupts into a sensory explosion of trade, gossip, and superstition. Nikolai Ekk’s adaptation of Gogol’s classic tale follows the bumbling Cherevyk as he attempts to navigate the chaotic local fair with his beautiful daughter, Paraska. Amidst the bartering for pigs and the flow of horilka, a young peasant named Hrytsko falls head-over-heels for Paraska, but their union is blocked by a shrewish stepmother and the terrifying legend of the 'Red Jacket'—a demonic garment said to haunt the fairgrounds. The film is less a linear narrative and more a rhythmic, folk-operatic exploration of Ukrainian identity, blending slapstick comedy with a looming, surreal sense of the supernatural that threatens to upend the festivities.