Die Sonne, die uns täuscht (1994)

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 (dialogue), Rustam Ibragimbekov (dialogue)

Stars:

Nikita Mikhalkov, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Oleg Menshikov

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 10 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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Certificate:

12

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title song is "To ostatnia niedziela" written in 1935 by Jerzy Petersburski with Polish lyrics by Zenon Fredwald. In 1936 the first Russian version was recorded by Klavdiya Shulzhenko. That same year, Aleksandr Tsfasman recorded his version with new Russian lyrics by Iosif Albeck who wrote the opening line: "Utomlyonnoe solntse... " Burnt by the Sun is a loose English translation of the song title, alluding to Soviet dictatorship hoisting Stalin to the sun.

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Connections

References Persona (1966)

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Soundtracks

Vesti la Giuba
(uncredited) from 'Pagliacci'
Written by Ruggero Leoncavallo
Performed by Oleg Menshikov
Played by Mitya on the piano

User Reviews

I've seen American movies awarded with several Oscar's for less.

It's one of the best pictures I've ever seen. I watch it at least once a year. Unfortunately for non-Russian viewers, subtitles are quite pale; they hardly deliver one tenth of the juicy Russian dialogues and don't let Western viewers to appreciate the beauty of the movie in its entirety.

Details

Official Sites:

Studiya TriTe [Russia]

Country:

Russia France

Language:

Russian French

Release Date:

12 October 1995 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Die Sonne, die uns täuscht

Filming Locations:

Moscow province, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$2,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$60,074, 23 April 1995

Gross USA:

$2,302,338

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,313,461

Company Credits

Production Co:

Studio Trite, Caméra One, Goskino

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min 142 min (Blu-ray)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1