FAQ for
White Nights (1985) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

No. White Nights is based on a screenplay by American screenwriters James Goldman (also story), Eric Hughes, and Nancy Dowd.

White nights, aka 'the midnight sun', is a polar phenomenon that occurs during the summer months within and near to the Arctic Circle (as well as in the Antarctic Circle). At this time, the sun remains visible for a continuous 24 hours in the northernmost parts of Canada, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Alaska, and Iceland. The opposite phenomenon known as 'polar night' occurs in winter when the sun stays below the horizon throughout the day.

(Mikhail Baryshnikov) plays a Russian ballet dancer, Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko, who defected to the United States eight years previously. While on the way to Tokyo with his manager, Anne Wyatt (Geraldine Page), his airplane is forced to land in Russia. Nikolai is sequestered by KGB officer Colonel Chaiko (Jerzy Skolimowski) and sent to Siberia to live with (and be watched by) former U.S. citizen and tap dancer Raymond Greenwood (Gregory Hines) and his wife Darya (Isabella Rossellini). Together, Nikolai and Raymond plot a means of escaping to the West.

No. Soon after the formation of the Soviet Union (officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR) in 1922, restrictions were put in place to keep citizens from leaving the various countries. However, that didn't stop them from defecting. Prior to Baryshnikov's defection in 1974, other defectors included famed choreographer George Balachine and dancers Rudolf Nureyev, Alexander Godonuf, and Natalia Makarova. White Nights is a fictional story about what might have happened had any Russian defector been forced back into the USSR.

No. Le jeune homme et la mort (The Young Man and Death) is a ballet by French choreographer Roland Petit [1924-2011]. It premiered on 25 June, 1946 in Paris, performed by Les Ballets des Champs-Elysées. The accompanying music is the Passacaglia in C Minor BMV 582 by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach [1685-1750], arranged by Michel Colombier.

The 'play' is actually an opera called Porgy and Bess, written by American author DuBose Heyward, with music by Heyward and American composer George Gershwin. The opera is based on a play of the same name, also written by Heyward and first performed in 1927. The play is based on Heyward's 1925 novel Porgy. It tells the story of a disabled black beggar (Porgy) in Charleston, South Carolina and his attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of her lover and drug dealer.

Like Nikolai, Raymond defected...but in reverse. He left the United States for the USSR. At one point in the movie, he talks about the hard life he had in Harlem. He was considered cute as a child tapper but, at 18, he was just a black man and got inducted into the army and sent to Vietnam. Raymond believed that he would have a better life in Russia and made the move.

Russian text is based on the Cyrillic alphabet, derived from an Ancient Greek script. The early Cyrillic alphabet was modified by Peter the Great [1672-1725], tsar of Russia, who mandated the use of westernized letter forms in his attempt to modernize the Russian empire.

The Kirov is a historic theater and a world-renown company of opera and ballet. It was named after Sergey Kirov [1886-1934], an early leader in the Soviet Union. Opened in 1860 in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), Russia, the Kirov is now known as the Mariisky Theater.

No. For one thing, Mikhail Baryshnikov, like his character in the movie, had defected to the U.S. and could not return to the USSR where he was considered a criminal. For another thing, White Nights was filmed in the early 1980s when the Iron Curtain still separated Eastern and Western Europe. An American film company would not have been allowed to film in Leningrad. In the director's commentary, it is explained that the shots of Leningrad were filmed by a Finnish group making a travel documentary. The rest of the movie was shot in various parts of England, Scotland, Portugal, Finland, and in a film studio.

...when Nikolai earns 11 rubles from Raymond (0:56): 'My Love is Chemical' performed by Lou Reed

...when Raymond taps while Nikolai climbs on the rooftops (1:06): 'tapDANCE' performed by David Foster (music only)

...during the fancy dinner at Nikolai's old apartment (1:14): 'People On a String' performed by Roberta Flack

...when Nikolai dances at the Kirov in front of Galina (1:20): 'Fastidious Horses' by Vladimir Vysotsky

...when Nikolai and Raymond warm up together (1:28): (1) 'The Other Side of the World' performed by Chaka Khan, and (2) 'People Have Got to Move' performed by Jenny Burton

...when Darya returns to Raymond and tells him that she's pregnant (1:35): 'Separate Lives' performed by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin

...when Nikolai and Raymond dance together while Chaiko watches (1:40): 'Prove Me Wrong' performed by David Pack

...when Nikolai, Raymond, and Darya escape (1:50): (1) 'Snake Charmer' performed by John Hiatt, (2) 'Far Post' performed by Robert Plant, and (3) 'This is Your Day' performed by Sandy Stewart and Nile Rodgers

...when the final credits roll: 'Say You Say Me' written and performed by Lionel Richie

As promised, American diplomats Wynn Scott (John Glover) and Chuck Malarek (William Hootkins) are waiting to drive Nikolai and Darya to the American consulate, while Raymond stays behind in an attempt to stall Chaiko. When Chaiko realizes that he's been had, he and his comrades hop in their cars and head for the consulate. As Scott's car approaches the consulate, where a dinner is being held for a large number of Third World diplomats, they are suddenly hit by another car and detained just long enough for Chaiko to catch up. Nikolai grabs on to Darya and they head toward the front gate, where a large group of foreign diplomats have gathered along with Anne Wyatt. As they get closer to the gate, three KGB agents grab Darya and wrestle her to the ground until Nikolai points out to Chaiko that he's risking Soviet suppression being witnessed by the rest of the world and promises to keep quiet if Chaiko will allow Darya to leave with him. Chaiko considers his options for a few seconds then orders his men to release Darya. Nikolai, Darya, and Chaiko walk the rest of the way to the consulate gates, where Chaiko babbles on about Nikolai's miraculous recovery and return to his adopted country in a gesture of world peace and brotherhood. In the final scenes, the midnight sun has finally set. Raymond is driven to a border station and told to get out of the car and walk. Certain that he's about to be shot in the back, Raymond is surprised to see that he's being traded for a Russian prisoner from the U.S. Raymond continues to walk across the border where he is met by Darya, Nikolai, Scott, and Chuck.