Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Burnt by the Sun

Original title: Utomlennye solntsem
  • 1994
  • R
  • 2h 15m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
16K
YOUR RATING
Nikita Mikhalkov and Nadezhda Mikhalkova in Burnt by the Sun (1994)
Trailer
Play trailer1:04
1 Video
99+ Photos
DramaWar

In the Soviet Union in 1936, shadow of Stalin's repressions lie on a famous revolution hero. The accusations of being him a foreign spy are nonsense, and all known that, but a slow process o... Read allIn the Soviet Union in 1936, shadow of Stalin's repressions lie on a famous revolution hero. The accusations of being him a foreign spy are nonsense, and all known that, but a slow process of his life's downfall is already running.In the Soviet Union in 1936, shadow of Stalin's repressions lie on a famous revolution hero. The accusations of being him a foreign spy are nonsense, and all known that, but a slow process of his life's downfall is already running.

  • Director
    • Nikita Mikhalkov
  • Writers
    • Nikita Mikhalkov
    • Rustam Ibragimbekov
  • Stars
    • Nikita Mikhalkov
    • Ingeborga Dapkunaite
    • Oleg Menshikov
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    16K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Nikita Mikhalkov
    • Writers
      • Nikita Mikhalkov
      • Rustam Ibragimbekov
    • Stars
      • Nikita Mikhalkov
      • Ingeborga Dapkunaite
      • Oleg Menshikov
    • 84User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 5 wins & 10 nominations total

    Videos1

    Burnt By The Sun
    Trailer 1:04
    Watch Burnt By The Sun

    Photos224

    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Nikita Mikhalkov, and Nadezhda Mikhalkova in Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Ingeborga Dapkunaite and Nikita Mikhalkov in Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)
    Burnt by the Sun (1994)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Nikita Mikhalkov
    Nikita Mikhalkov
    • Sergey
    Ingeborga Dapkunaite
    Ingeborga Dapkunaite
    • Marusya
    • (as Ingeborga Dapkunayte)
    Oleg Menshikov
    Oleg Menshikov
    • Dmitriy
    Nadezhda Mikhalkova
    Nadezhda Mikhalkova
    • Nadya
    • (as Nadya Mikhalkova)
    Vyacheslav Tikhonov
    Vyacheslav Tikhonov
    • Vsevolod Konstantinovich
    Svetlana Kryuchkova
    Svetlana Kryuchkova
    • Mokhova
    Vladimir Ilin
    Vladimir Ilin
    • Kirik
    Alla Kazanskaya
    Alla Kazanskaya
    • Lidiya Stepanovna
    Nina Arkhipova
    • Elena Mikhaylovna
    Avangard Leontev
    Avangard Leontev
    • Shofer
    André Oumansky
    André Oumansky
    • Filipp
    • (as Andre Umanskiy)
    Inna Ulyanova
    Inna Ulyanova
    • Olga Nikolaevna
    Lyubov Rudneva
    Lyubov Rudneva
    • Lyuba
    Vladimir Ryabov
    Vladimir Ryabov
    • Ofitser NKVD
    Vladimir Belousov
    Vladimir Belousov
    • Sotrudnik NKVD
    Aleksey Pokatilov
    Aleksey Pokatilov
    • 2-oy sotrudnik NKVD
    Evgeniy Mironov
    Evgeniy Mironov
    • Leytenant
    Tamara Akopova
      • Director
        • Nikita Mikhalkov
      • Writers
        • Nikita Mikhalkov
        • Rustam Ibragimbekov
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

      More like this

      Burnt by the Sun 2
      4.3
      Burnt by the Sun 2
      12
      7.6
      12
      The Barber of Siberia
      7.7
      The Barber of Siberia
      Utomlennye solntsem 2
      4.2
      Utomlennye solntsem 2
      Unfinished Piece for the Player Piano
      7.7
      Unfinished Piece for the Player Piano
      At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among His Own
      7.4
      At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among His Own
      Close to Eden
      7.6
      Close to Eden
      A Cruel Romance
      8.0
      A Cruel Romance
      Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
      8.1
      Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
      Oci ciornie
      7.3
      Oci ciornie
      Utomlennye solntsem 2
      2.8
      Utomlennye solntsem 2
      Brother
      7.8
      Brother

      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Trivia
        One of four Russian films ever to win Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The others are War and Peace (1965), Dersu Uzala (1975) and Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980)
      • Connections
        Featured in The Other Day 1961-2003: Our Era: Namedni 1995 (1999)
      • Soundtracks
        Utomlennoe solntse
        Written by Jerzy Petersburski (as Ezhi Petersburgskiy)

        Lyrics by Iosif Alvek (uncredited)

        Performed by Mark Simkin (singer), Efim Vyshkin (violin), Aleksandr Bashkatov (bayan), and Viktor Agapov (guitar)

        Played by an instrumental quartet during opening credits as a film's theme song

      User reviews84

      Review
      Review
      Featured review
      10/10
      A palpable feeling of Russian genius
      "Burnt by the Sun" is a powerful example of what a genuinely Russian movie can be when it uses the good sides of western film-making : a coherent plot, professional camera work, and freedom of expression, all things that were rare for the cinema of Soviet times. Of course, it is not surprising that it was made by Nikita Mikhalkov, one of the few Russian directors who achieved lasting world success during communism, and therefore he had the right contacts abroad to get a decent budget. Though, "Burnt by the Sun" is way better than Mikhalkov's pompous "Barber of Siberia", which was alloted more money than any other film in the history of Russian cinema.

      In "Burnt by the Sun", Mikhalkov was able to give us a palpable feeling of the beauty and genius of Russia. The lighting is magnificent all the way through, and the ripe and wide wheat fields shine like gold. The action takes place in a cozy dacha among the birch trees, a house which seems to be the nest of a bunch of gentle and carefree eccentrics, all in an atmosphere that reminds pleasantly of Tchekov.

      Yet, you can tell from the start that "Burnt by the Sun" is not going to be just a comedy, as the first scene opens on a man cutting his veins in a bathtub while the telephone is ringing. However, this first forewarning soon gets forgotten throughout most of the film, which keeps a warm, light-hearted, slightly nostalgic tone almost all the time. It is only towards the middle you realize that it starts looming slowly towards predictable tragedy, and this only gets obvious in the very last moments.

      It turns out that the characters we see are all members of an old aristocratic family who were spared the horrors of the revolution because the younger daughter, Marusia, married a Red Army colonel, much older than she is. Thus, they keep on living as they ever did, playing cards, drinking tea from samovars, making private jokes in French. They even have a maid and a parrot. They seem totally oblivious of the reality around them. Except for innocent looking balloons with Stalin's face on them and a few parading pioneers, the communist regime is visible almost only through the presence of colonel Kotov, brilliantly played here by Nikita Mikhalkov himself.

      Colonel Kotov impersonates a character very familiar to the Russian mentality : he is tall, strong, authoritarian, but at the same time protective, warm-hearted, charming and prone to jokes. He is about just as sympathetic as the gruff milkman with a heart of gold in "Fiddler on the Roof". Although he is a military, he is not the kind of guy you think as having blood on his hands. But of course Lenin and Stalin's aura over Russian people was also partly due to the fact that they represented strong and protective father figures.

      The story takes a sudden turn with the arrival of an enigmatic character disguised as a Santa Claus in the middle of summer. He turns out to be known by everyone in the house, as he is the adoptive child of the late grandfather. In fact, he was Marusia's childhood companion, and her lover in the first place, but was evicted by Kotov, who protected henceforth the whole family from repression. It soon becomes clear that the man, called Mitya, has come to take revenge for his shattered life.

      All performances here are good, even though Nikita Mikhalkov, as an actor, still manages to steal the show. But one will not either forget the performance of his then six-year old daughter Nadya , who also plays his daughter in the movie. A charming, energetic and witty child performance which impersonates the innocence of the family about to be lost.

      The French title for the movie was "Deceitful Sun", and I find it more appropriate. Although the film bathes in quiet sunlight, it deals with one of the darkest eras of Russian/Soviet history : Stalinism. In the early 1930's, Stalin decided to eliminate much of the newly arisen communist elite whom he did not trust anymore, and hired former enemies of communism, or half-criminals, to eradicate his own official allies. Thus, colonel Kotov remains self-righteous and sure of himself almost until the end because he simply cannot believe that Stalin will not protect him.

      Needless to say that "Burnt by the Sun" is one of the first Russian movies that deals so openly with the subject. A subject which still remains quite sensitive since millions of people had their lives shattered by those events. Unlike what happened for Nazism, it was not until the end of the communist regime that it was possible to discuss it openly, even though Stalin's deeds had already been condemned officially a long time before. Therefore, this superb drama is also the symbol of a historical breakthrough.
      helpful•61
      19
      • francheval
      • Feb 13, 2006

      Top picks

      Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
      Sign in

      Details

      Edit
      • Release date
        • April 21, 1995 (United States)
      • Countries of origin
        • Russia
        • France
      • Official site
        • Studiya TriTe (Russia)
      • Languages
        • Russian
        • French
      • Also known as
        • Quemado por el sol
      • Filming locations
        • Moscow province, Russia
      • Production companies
        • Studio Trite
        • Caméra One
        • Goskino
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Box office

      Edit
      • Budget
        • $2,800,000 (estimated)
      • Gross US & Canada
        • $2,302,338
      • Opening weekend US & Canada
        • $60,074
        • Apr 23, 1995
      • Gross worldwide
        • $2,313,461
      See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

      Technical specs

      Edit
      • Runtime
        2 hours 15 minutes
      • Color
        • Color
      • Sound mix
        • Dolby Stereo
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.66 : 1

      Related news

      Contribute to this page

      Suggest an edit or add missing content
      Nikita Mikhalkov and Nadezhda Mikhalkova in Burnt by the Sun (1994)
      Top Gap
      By what name was Burnt by the Sun (1994) officially released in India in English?
      Answer
      • See more gaps
      • Learn more about contributing
      Edit page

      More to explore

      Recently viewed

      Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
      Get the IMDb App
      Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
      • Get the IMDb App
      • Help
      • Site Index
      • IMDbPro
      • Box Office Mojo
      • IMDb Developer
      • Press Room
      • Advertising
      • Jobs
      • Conditions of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Your Ads Privacy Choices
      IMDb, an Amazon company

      © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.