Burnt by the Sun (1994)

In Soviet Union in 1936, a shadow of Stalin's repressions lie on a famous revolution hero. An 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 (dialogue), Rustam Ibragimbekov (dialogue)

Stars:

Nikita Mikhalkov, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Oleg Menshikov

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Oleg Menshikov	...	Dmitriy
Nikita Mikhalkov	...	Sergey
Ingeborga Dapkunaite	...	Marusya (as Ingeborga Dapkunayte)
Nadezhda Mikhalkova	...	Nadya (as Nadya Mikhalkova)
Vyacheslav Tikhonov	...	Vsevolod Konstantinovich
Svetlana Kryuchkova	...	Mokhova
Vladimir Ilin	...	Kirik
Alla Kazanskaya	...	Lidiya Stepanovna
Nina Arkhipova	...	Elena Mikhaylovna
Avangard Leontev	...	Shofer
André Oumansky	...	Filipp (as Andre Umanskiy)
Inna Ulyanova	...	Olga Nikolaevna
Lyubov Rudneva	...	Lyuba
Vladimir Ryabov	...	Ofitser NKVD
Vladimir Belousov	...	Sotrudnik NKVD

Storyline

Russia, 1936: revolutionary hero Colonel Kotov is spending an idyllic summer in his village with his young wife and six-year-old daughter Nadia and other assorted family and friends. Things change dramatically with the unheralded arrival of Cousin Dmitri from Moscow, who charms the women and little Nadia with his games and pianistic bravura. But Kotov isn't fooled: this is the time of Stalin's repression, with telephone calls in the middle of the night spelling doom - and he knows that Dmitri isn't paying a social call...

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Plot Keywords:

stalinism | year 1936 | soviet citizen | nkvd | uniform | 

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Taglines:

The unexpected arrival of an old flame brings about the sudden destruction of a happy family.

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Studiya TriTe [Russia]

Country:

Russia France

Language:

Russian French

Release Date:

21 April 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Burnt by the Sun

Filming Locations:

Moscow province, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$2,800,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$2,616,503

Company Credits

Production Co:

Studio Trite, Caméra One, Goskino

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of four Russian films ever to win Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The others are War and Peace (1966), Dersu Uzala (1975) and Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980)

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Connections

Referenced in Pozner: Nikita Mikhalkov (2010)

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Soundtracks

Blue Danube
(uncredited)
Written by Johann Strauss
Performed by Oleg Menshikov and Nadezhda Mikhalkova
Played on the piano by Mitya and Nadya

User Reviews

When Russian movies Westernize...

To be honest, this movie had its strong points, but in the end, fell short of the mark. Especially due to the horribly prolonged ending........it should have ended with Kotov's daughter running out of the car, everything that followed was much too obvious. For me, the best moment is when Kotov sits with his daughter playing her game; the look on his face says much more than the last 15min of the movie, the "symbolic" Stalin balloon, and the predictable...well, ending.