Utomlyonnye solntsem (1994)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Nikita Mikhalkov

Writers:

Rustam Ibragimbekov (dialogue)
Rustam Ibragimbekov (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 April 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

For those who were burnt by the sun of the revolution

Plot:

Russia, 1936: revolutionary hero Colonel Kotov is spending an idyllic summer in his dacha with his young...

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Colonel | Daughter | Repression | Family Relationships

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Oleg Menshikov	...	Dimitri (Mitya)
Nikita Mikhalkov	...	Col. Sergei Petrovich Kotov
Ingeborga Dapkunaite	...	Marusia
Nadezhda Mikhalkova	...	Nadya
André Oumansky	...	Philippe
Vyacheslav Tikhonov	...	Vsevolod
Svetlana Kryuchkova	...	Mokhova
Vladimir Ilyin	...	Kirik
Alla A. Kazanskaya	...	Lidiya Stepanovna
Nina Arkhipova	...	Yelena Mikhajlovna
Avangard Leontyev	...	Chauffeur
Inna Ulyanova	...	Olga Nikolayevna
Lyubov Rudneva	...	Lyuba
Vladimir Ryabov	...	NKVD officer
Vladimir Belousov	...	NKVD man #1

Also Known As:

Утомлённые солнцем (Russia)
Burnt by the Sun (International: English title)
Soleil trompeur (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and sexuality.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

Russia | France

Language:

Russian | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Certification:

Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Caméra One

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The beginning of the movie shows a group of Soviet airborne self-propelled howitzer/mortars of type 2S9 driving across some fields. The 2S9 is a modern-day vehicle, first seen in public in 1985.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

A traditional film about the end of tradition.

Like most film lovers I prize invention, originality and formal daring. BURNT BY THE SUN is a very conservative historical epic, full of sweeping scenes paralelling intimate domestic exchanges; theatrical framings and acting with lots of dialogue; Jarre-esque sugary Romantic music; a fetishisation of nature.

Nevertheless, I loved this film to bits, for all these reasons. it was as rich as a novel (although it is an original), yet full of the vibrancy, life, violence, anger, and comedy absent from most literary adaptations. There is also a sense of using a cliched mode to attack its assumptions, as Chekhovian comedy turns into a denunciation of totalitarianism, and a more absurdist register.

Mikhalkov's filming of a superficially ugly Russia is lyrical and emotionally charged, and his own performance is like watching an oak tree being systematically hacked, sublime in its reach. Packed with memorable, searing set-pieces, but the filming of Marusya's confusion on Mitya's return, or his story to Nadya, shot with Nicholas Ray's feel for decor, stand out for me.