Burnt by the Sun

Infobox_Film
name = Burnt by the Sun


image_size = 180px
caption = Original DVD poster
director = Nikita Mikhalkov
producer = Nikita Mikhalkov Michel Seydoux
writer = Rustam Ibragimbekov Nikita Mikhalkov
starring = Oleg Menshikov Nikita Mikhalkov Ingeborga Dapkunaite Nadezhda Mikhalkova
music = Eduard Artemyev
cinematography = Vilen Kalyuta
editing = Enzo Meniconi
distributor = Sony Pictures Classics
released = flagicon|France May 21, 1994 (premiere at Cannes)
flagicon|USA 21 April, 1995
flagicon|UK 18 August, 1995
runtime = 135 min.
country = France
Russia
language = Russian/French
budget = $2,800,000 (estimated)
imdb_id = 0111579|

"Burnt by the Sun" (Russian: "Утомлённые солнцем", "Utomlyonnye solntsem") is a 1994 film by Russian director and actor Nikita Mikhalkov. The film received the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, among many other honours.

Plot

The film opens in 1936, just before Joseph Stalin's Great Purge. General Sergei Kotov (Nikita Mikhalkov), an idealistic Communist and decorated hero of the Russian Civil War, is enjoying life in his country dacha. Alongside him is his wife Maroussia (Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė), their daughter Nadia, and Maroussia's large and eccentric family of foppish ex-nobles. The charismatic Kotov, relaxed in his semi-retirement, is held in awe by all who surround him.

Into this idyllic setting walks Mitya (Oleg Menshikov), a former nobleman who was Maroussia's fiance before his sudden disappearance. He is joyfully embraced by the family and introduced to Nadia as "Uncle Mitya." However, it soon becomes clear that despite his humorous, friendly nature he has returned with a secret agenda. Mitya now works for the Secret Police, or NKVD, and has arrived to arrest General Kotov under false charges of spying for the German and Japanese governments.

This is revenge to some extent, as the reason why he left Maroussia was that Kotov forcibly conscripted him into the NKVD. Mitya was then sent to Paris and ordered to spy on White Russian emigres. As result, Mitya detests Kotov, whom he blames for taking away both Maroussia and his own faith in God. Kotov, however, views Mitya as "a whore" who was "bought and paid for" by the Soviet State. He is certain that Mitya's plans to arrest him are nothing more than a personal vendetta. Citing his enormous popularity and his close relationship with Stalin, Kotov tells Mitya indignantly that the regime will never dare to touch him. In public, however, they continue their charade of friendship.

Eventually, however, a black car filled with NKVD agents arrives to arrest him. Even then, the charade continues and Nadia is even allowed to ride part of the way. Thinking nothing is amiss, she kisses her father goodbye and walks home. Meanwhile, Kotov's cool, officer's pride remains unshaken. Certain that he can turn the tables on his captors by calling Stalin's private number, he taunts them about the coming destruction of their careers.

However, when he tries to leave the car, the NKVD agents beat him to a pulp and shackle his hands. In horror, Kotov realizes where the decision to arrest him must have come from. With his faith in the system shattered, a bloodied Kotov weeps unconsolably. Mitya, who has obviously seen this happen to many men, remains unmoved. The car drives on until a massive poster of Stalin shields it from view.

A postscript reveals that General Sergei Kotov was convicted of espionage and shot. Maroussia was also arrested and died in the GULAG. Both sentences were later overturned during the Khrushchev thaw. Their daughter Nadia is described as having survived and as currently working as a music teacher in Kazakhstan. Mitya - as the last scenes of the movie reveal - committed suicide by slashing his wrists.

Title

The title derives from a popular 1930s song composed by Jerzy Petersburski. Originally the Polish tango "Ta ostatnia niedziela", it became popular in the Soviet Union with the new Russian lyrics as "Утомлённое солнце" (Utomlyonnoye solntse, "Weary Sun") and later was performed by Leonid Utyosov. The title also refers to a mysterious orb of light, similar to ball lightning, that appears at various points in the film; the film states at the end that it is dedicated to those "burnt by the sun" of the Revolution ("weary with the sun" in the Russian title).

External links

* [http://www.trite.ru Mikhalkov Productions]
*imdb title|id=0111579|name=Burnt by the Sun

Bibliography

* [Review of] "Burnt by the Sun". by Michel Seidou; Nikita Mikhalkov; Rustam Ibragimbekov. "The Interpretation of Dreams". by Andrei Zagdansky; Semen Vinokur in The American Historical Review > Vol. 100, No. 4 (Oct., 1995), pp. 1223-1224

References

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
years=1994
before="Belle Époque"
after="Antonia's Line"succession box
title=Grand Prix du Jury, Cannes
years=1994
tied with "To Live"
before="Faraway, So Close!"
after="Ulysses' Gaze"
(award renamed Grand Prix)