Chasing Two Hares

In Kyiv at the beginning of the 20th century, a frivolous barber named Svyryd Petrovych Holokhvostyi (Oleg Borisov) goes bankrupt and is forced to close his shop. Upon learning that a Mr. Sirko (Mykola Yakovenko) is offering a dowry of ten thousand roubles for his unrefined and unattractive daughter, Pronia (Margarita Krinitsyna), Svyryd decides to pay his debts by marrying her. Svyryd dupes a German creditor of his to finance the courtship. While showing off his new suit to friends in the park on Saint Vladimir Hill, he sees and briefly flirts with the beautiful Halia (Natalia Naum) before being chased away by her would be boyfriend, Stepan.