Utomlennye solntsem 2: Tsitadel

Well, where should I start? Burnt by the Sun: Fortress is definitely better then Burnt by the Sun: Exodus, which was total insanity. I found myself interested in the storyline involving Kotov finding and coming to peace with his family. The acting is not always over-the-top and much more subtle, though we get a lot of ham. There are still a lot of unintentionally funny and rather impossible scenes: for example, the whole take-the-fortress-subplot is pretty silly, cause it is built like a medieval castle etc. Overall, it's an improvement, if you cut out all the wacky scenes, or re-shoot them in a more believable way, you'll get a good movie. Not yet, Nikita, better luck next time.

I loved the previous film of the trilogy, but not this one. Not film making speaking, butthe story itself. The fortress attack is laughable in the negative way. And this mine filed, where mines are not even undergroud but put down on the grass....Once more, as in so many Russian war movies, german soldiers are shown as idiots. Oh my God,keep away fromit.

Nikita has gone insane, and someone should have had the guts to tell him this was pure rubbish. Everything about this film is fake and indulgent. It annoys the audience and delivers nothing in terms of emotional or intellectual gratification. Those of us who enjoyed the original film are baffled. There is simply no story here, and nothing worth watching. I don't care for these characters, and I can't take anything in this film seriously.

I don't understand why Mikhalkov's own people are being so unfair with this "celovekh". They want to smash not only his fingers but also his lifetime work which is impossible.

This final chapter is brilliant. All the pieces are put together by a master painter. The light in the dacha contrasting with the light in the same "dacha" from the first movie, the torment suffered by the characters, the joy and the sadness of the people touched or mutilated by the war and finally the immense Russian light blue sky...all contribute to an amazing picture.

I don't judge this movie historically even if I have read over a hundred books about the terrible war on the Eastern Front. I love the very soul of this movie. Mikhalkov does not created another sequel, he managed to create another movie which cannot be measured in IMDb stars...

So ignore the rating and enjoy the ride...on the back of Kotov's horse.

After the massive disappointment of the second installment, Mikhalkov manages to give a decent conclusion for his ill-conceived project; still miles away from the engaging original but still more coherent than the previous one.

I'm quite sure that the overwhelming negative response to Predstoyanie's bizarre mixture of naturalism, pathos, slapstick and religious overtones forced some changes in the editing of Tsitadel and the film it's all the better for it.

In the end, I remain most intrigued by this strange, monumental movie, a Heaven's Gate-like fiasco that nevertheless has some memorable passages. In fact, I will certainly check Mikhalkov's longer cut (intended as TV series) when it gets available.

As for the mighty Nikita Mikhalkov, maybe he failed, but his body of work remains outstanding nevertheless!