Burnt by the Sun
Encyclopedia
Burnt by the Sun is a 1994 film by Russia
n director
and actor
Nikita Mikhalkov
. The film depicts the story of a senior Red Army
officer and his family during the Great Purge
of the late 1930s in the Stalinist
Soviet Union
. Like a tragedy
by Sophocles
, Burnt by the Sun takes place over the course of one day.
The film received the Grand Prize
at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
and the Academy Award
for Best Foreign Language Film, among many other honours.
Sergei Petrovich Kotov, his wife Maroussia (Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė
), and their young daughter Nadia are relaxing in a banya
, when they are suddenly interrupted. A peasant from the local collective farm explains that the Soviet Army
's tanks are about to crush the wheat
harvest as part of general maneuvers. Although annoyed to be bothered during his vacation, Kotov rides on horseback to where the tank crews are confronting outraged peasants.
At first, a tank officer is angry that Kotov curses him out. When the older man borrows a Soviet officer's cap, the tank crews realize they are addressing a senior Old Bolshevik
and legendary hero of the Russian Civil War
. Taking the radio receiver, Kotov speaks directly to Marshal
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
. As the tank crews listen in admiration, Kotov familiarly addresses the Marshal as "Misha" and persuades him to hold maneuvers elsewhere.
Maroussia teases her husband for being "coarse." Nadia does not agree, and the happy family returns to their country dacha
. There, they join Maroussia's relatives, a large and eccentric family of Chekhovian
aristocrats. Into the pastoral setting comes Mitya (Oleg Menshikov
), an ex-nobleman
and veteran of the anti-communist White Army. He was Maroussia's fiance before disappearing in 1923. Joyfully embraced by the family, he is introduced to Nadia as "Uncle Mitya." Maroussia is left feeling deeply conflicted, as she had suffered deeply when he left without explanation.
Despite his personable nature, Mitya appears to have returned with a secret agenda, as he works for the Soviet political police, or NKVD
. He has arrived to arrest Kotov for a non-existent conspiracy. It is revenge, as Kotov had conscripted Mitya into the CHEKA
, the predecessor of the NKVD. Mitya detests Kotov, whom he blames for causing him to lose Maroussia, his love for Russia, faith, and his profession as a pianist
. Kotov remarks on Mitya's activities in Paris
, where he fingered eight White Army generals to the NKVD. All were kidnapped, smuggled to the Soviet Union
, and shot without trial. Kotov says Mitya is "a whore" whose loyalties were "bought."
Believing Mitya's plans to arrest him are a personal vendetta, Kotov boasts of his personal popularity and close relationship with Stalin. Mitya vows to repeat these words at the Lubyanka prison
- after Kotov has been forced to confess to false charges of espionage
, treason, and plotting to murder Stalin. The men come to blows but when young Nadia returns, they again pretend to be friends.
A black car carrying NKVD agents arrives for the arrest of Kotov. A group of Young Pioneer
children arrives at the dacha to pay tribute to Kotov as a hero of the Revolution and the Civil War. In a deeply ironic moment, Kotov leads them all in an oath of loyalty to Joseph Stalin
and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
as Mitya looks on. Moments later, Mitya summons Kotov to the car.
Continuing the charade, Mitya and Kotov allow Nadya to ride part of the way with them. After kissing her father and Mitya goodbye, she walks down the road toward home. Maintaining his military coolness, Kotov coldly vows to telephone Stalin and destroy the careers of those who have arrested him. However, the NKVD agents find the road blocked by the truck of a peasant who has gotten lost. When Kotov tries to leave the car to give the peasant directions, the NKVD agents batter him and shackle his hands. Certain that the peasant was sent to rescue Kotov, the agents summarily execute the horrified peasant on the spot.
As the car drives past the peasant's body, Kotov realizes in horror who has really ordered his arrest. With his Communist ideals shattered, Kotov sobs inconsolably. Meanwhile, Mitya looks on unmoved. The car drives on until a massive poster of Joseph Stalin
shields it from view.
Mitya is then seen bleeding to death in a bathtub, having slashed his wrists. He whistles the suicide tango, To ostatnia niedziela (Weary Sun), until his song ceases.
As Nadia skips home across a field, a postscript appears on the screen:
Comdiv Sergei Petrovich Kotov "confessed" to all charges and was shot in August 1936. Maroussia was arrested and died in the Gulag
in 1940. Although arrested with her mother, Nadia lived to see all three sentences overturned during the Khrushchev thaw
. Having inherited her mother's musical gifts, Nadia Kotova works as a teacher in Kazakhstan
. In the English release, the postscript ends with the words, "This film is dedicated to all who were burnt by the sun of the Revolution
."
. Originally the Polish tango
, "To ostatnia niedziela" (This is the last Sunday), it became popular in the Soviet Union with new Russian lyrics and the title, "Утомлённое солнце" (Utomlyonnoye solntse, "Weary Sun").
The song is heard repeatedly
in the film; the director Mikhalkov said in 2007 that he learned of the song from his elder brother Andrei Konchalovsky
's 1979
film Siberiade
. He compared his use of the music to his having stolen money as a boy from his brother.
The title also refers to a mysterious orb of light, similar to ball lightning
, that appears at various points in the film. The postscript says the film is dedicated to those "burnt by the sun" of the Revolution ("weary with the sun" in the Russian title).
, a former White Army General who spied on his former comrades in France during the 1930s
. On September 22, 1937, Skoblin and his wife delivered General Evgenii Miller
of the Russian All-Military Union
to the NKVD. General Miller was drugged, kidnapped, and smuggled aboard a Soviet ship in Le Havre
harbor. The ship carried General Miller to the Soviet Union
, where he was tortured and executed.
Skoblin escaped to Republican Spain
, which refused to extradite him for trial in France. He is believed to have been murdered in Spain, France or on a Soviet ship on the orders of the NKVD. Skoblin's wife and handler, Nadezhda Plevitskaya
, was arrested, convicted of kidnapping by a French court, and died in prison.
directed and reprised his role as Sergei Petrovich Kotov in his sequel, Burnt by the Sun 2
. It competed for the Palme d'Or
at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
. Oleg Menshikov
and Nadezhda Mikhalkova
also reprised their roles from the original film.
's adapted the film as a stage drama by the same name. It opened at the National Theatre
, London, in March 2009. The cast included the Irish
actor Ciarán Hinds
as General Kotov, Rory Kinnear
as Mitya, and Michelle Dockery
as Maroussia.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...
. The film depicts the story of a senior Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
officer and his family during the Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
of the late 1930s in the Stalinist
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Like a tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
by Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
, Burnt by the Sun takes place over the course of one day.
The film received the Grand Prize
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
1994 Cannes Film Festival
The 1994 Cannes Film Festival started on 12 May and ran until 23 May. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino.-Official Selection:*Clint Eastwood *Catherine Deneuve...
and the Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Foreign Language Film, among many other honours.
Plot
The Soviet Union, summer 1936. ComdivComdiv
Comdiv or Komdiv , abbreviated from команди́р диви́зии was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s....
Sergei Petrovich Kotov, his wife Maroussia (Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė
Ingeborga Dapkunaite
Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė is a Lithuanian actress, who stars mostly in Russian movies.-Youth:Ingeborga Dapkunaite was born in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR. Her father was a diplomat and her mother a meteorologist. For many years her parents worked in Moscow, and she only saw them on holidays...
), and their young daughter Nadia are relaxing in a banya
Banya (sauna)
Banya in Russian can refer to any kind of steam bath, but usually to the Russian type of sauna. In Bulgarian, banya usually refers to a bath and bathing...
, when they are suddenly interrupted. A peasant from the local collective farm explains that the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
's tanks are about to crush the wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
harvest as part of general maneuvers. Although annoyed to be bothered during his vacation, Kotov rides on horseback to where the tank crews are confronting outraged peasants.
At first, a tank officer is angry that Kotov curses him out. When the older man borrows a Soviet officer's cap, the tank crews realize they are addressing a senior Old Bolshevik
Old Bolshevik
Old Bolshevik , also Old Bolshevik Guard or Old Party Guard, was an unofficial designation for those who were members of the Bolshevik party before the Russian Revolution of 1917, many of whom were either tried and executed by the NKVD during Stalin era purges or died under suspicious...
and legendary hero of the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. Taking the radio receiver, Kotov speaks directly to Marshal
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Marshal of the Soviet Union was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. ....
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander in chief of the Red Army , and one of the most prominent victims of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.-Early life:...
. As the tank crews listen in admiration, Kotov familiarly addresses the Marshal as "Misha" and persuades him to hold maneuvers elsewhere.
Maroussia teases her husband for being "coarse." Nadia does not agree, and the happy family returns to their country dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
. There, they join Maroussia's relatives, a large and eccentric family of Chekhovian
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
aristocrats. Into the pastoral setting comes Mitya (Oleg Menshikov
Oleg Menshikov
Oleg Evgenyevich Menshikov ; is a Russian entertainer. He is a film and theatre actor, singer and director. He started his film career in the early 1980s playing in the comedy Pokrovskie vorota and in Nikita Mikhalkov's Rodnya....
), an ex-nobleman
Russian nobility
The Russian nobility arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution of 1917.The Russian word for nobility, Dvoryanstvo , derives from the Russian word dvor , meaning the Court of a prince or duke and later, of the tsar. A nobleman is called dvoryanin...
and veteran of the anti-communist White Army. He was Maroussia's fiance before disappearing in 1923. Joyfully embraced by the family, he is introduced to Nadia as "Uncle Mitya." Maroussia is left feeling deeply conflicted, as she had suffered deeply when he left without explanation.
Despite his personable nature, Mitya appears to have returned with a secret agenda, as he works for the Soviet political police, or NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
. He has arrived to arrest Kotov for a non-existent conspiracy. It is revenge, as Kotov had conscripted Mitya into the CHEKA
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
, the predecessor of the NKVD. Mitya detests Kotov, whom he blames for causing him to lose Maroussia, his love for Russia, faith, and his profession as a pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. Kotov remarks on Mitya's activities in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he fingered eight White Army generals to the NKVD. All were kidnapped, smuggled to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and shot without trial. Kotov says Mitya is "a whore" whose loyalties were "bought."
Believing Mitya's plans to arrest him are a personal vendetta, Kotov boasts of his personal popularity and close relationship with Stalin. Mitya vows to repeat these words at the Lubyanka prison
Lubyanka (KGB)
The Lubyanka is the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow. It is a large building with a facade of yellow brick, designed by Alexander V...
- after Kotov has been forced to confess to false charges of espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, treason, and plotting to murder Stalin. The men come to blows but when young Nadia returns, they again pretend to be friends.
A black car carrying NKVD agents arrives for the arrest of Kotov. A group of Young Pioneer
Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union
The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer...
children arrives at the dacha to pay tribute to Kotov as a hero of the Revolution and the Civil War. In a deeply ironic moment, Kotov leads them all in an oath of loyalty to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
as Mitya looks on. Moments later, Mitya summons Kotov to the car.
Continuing the charade, Mitya and Kotov allow Nadya to ride part of the way with them. After kissing her father and Mitya goodbye, she walks down the road toward home. Maintaining his military coolness, Kotov coldly vows to telephone Stalin and destroy the careers of those who have arrested him. However, the NKVD agents find the road blocked by the truck of a peasant who has gotten lost. When Kotov tries to leave the car to give the peasant directions, the NKVD agents batter him and shackle his hands. Certain that the peasant was sent to rescue Kotov, the agents summarily execute the horrified peasant on the spot.
As the car drives past the peasant's body, Kotov realizes in horror who has really ordered his arrest. With his Communist ideals shattered, Kotov sobs inconsolably. Meanwhile, Mitya looks on unmoved. The car drives on until a massive poster of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
shields it from view.
Mitya is then seen bleeding to death in a bathtub, having slashed his wrists. He whistles the suicide tango, To ostatnia niedziela (Weary Sun), until his song ceases.
As Nadia skips home across a field, a postscript appears on the screen:
Comdiv Sergei Petrovich Kotov "confessed" to all charges and was shot in August 1936. Maroussia was arrested and died in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
in 1940. Although arrested with her mother, Nadia lived to see all three sentences overturned during the Khrushchev thaw
Khrushchev Thaw
The Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s, when repression and censorship in the Soviet Union were partially reversed and millions of Soviet political prisoners were released from Gulag labor camps, due to Nikita Khrushchev's policies of de-Stalinization and...
. Having inherited her mother's musical gifts, Nadia Kotova works as a teacher in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. In the English release, the postscript ends with the words, "This film is dedicated to all who were burnt by the sun of the Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
."
Cast
- Oleg MenshikovOleg MenshikovOleg Evgenyevich Menshikov ; is a Russian entertainer. He is a film and theatre actor, singer and director. He started his film career in the early 1980s playing in the comedy Pokrovskie vorota and in Nikita Mikhalkov's Rodnya....
- Dimitri (Mitya) - Nikita MikhalkovNikita MikhalkovNikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...
- Comdiv Sergei Petrovich Kotov - Ingeborga DapkunaiteIngeborga DapkunaiteIngeborga Dapkūnaitė is a Lithuanian actress, who stars mostly in Russian movies.-Youth:Ingeborga Dapkunaite was born in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR. Her father was a diplomat and her mother a meteorologist. For many years her parents worked in Moscow, and she only saw them on holidays...
- Maroussia - Nadezhda MikhalkovaNadezhda MikhalkovaNadezhda Mikhalkova is a Russian actress.Nadezhda is the youngest daughter of actor and film director Nikita Mikhalkov and fashion designer Tatyana Shigaeva. Her brother Artyom and sister Anna are also actors...
- Nadia - André OumanskyAndré OumanskyAndré Oumansky is a French actor. He appeared in more than eighty films since 1958.-Selected filmography:- External links :...
- Philippe - Vyacheslav TikhonovVyacheslav TikhonovVyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best known role was as Soviet spy Stirlitz in the television series Seventeen Moments of Spring. He was a recipient of numerous state awards, including the titles of People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Labour .-...
- Vsevolod - Svetlana Kryuchkova - Mokhova
- Vladimir IlyinVladimir Adolfovich IlyinVladimir Adolfovich Ilyin is a Russian actor. He was awarded People's Artist of Russia in 1999.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
- Kirik - Alla KazanskayaAlla KazanskayaAlla Alexandrovna Kazanskaya was a Russian stage and film actress. She began her career at the age of 18 at the Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow. By the time of her death at age 88 she was the theatre's oldest working actress...
- Lidiya Stepanovna - Nina Arkhipova - Yelena Mikhajlovna
- Avangard Leontyev - Chauffeur
- Inna Ulyanova - Olga Nikolayevna
- Lyubov Rudneva - Lyuba
- Vladimir Ryabov - NKVD officer
- Vladimir BelousovVladimir BelousovVladimir Vladimirovich E. Belousov was an Earth scientist in the Soviet Union, and a prominent advocate of alternatives to the theories of plate tectonics and seafloor spreading during the period of the 20th century in which debate on these subjects was most intense.Beloussov was head of the...
- NKVD man #1
Title
The title derives from a popular 1930s song composed by Jerzy PetersburskiJerzy Petersburski
Jerzy Petersburski was a Polish pianist and composer of popular music, renowned mostly for his Tangos, some of which were milestones in popularization of the musical genre in Poland and are still widely known today, more than half a century after their creation.Jerzy Petersburski was born April...
. Originally the Polish tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
, "To ostatnia niedziela" (This is the last Sunday), it became popular in the Soviet Union with new Russian lyrics and the title, "Утомлённое солнце" (Utomlyonnoye solntse, "Weary Sun").
The song is heard repeatedly
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
in the film; the director Mikhalkov said in 2007 that he learned of the song from his elder brother Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky is a Soviet-American and Russian film director, film producer and screenwriter....
's 1979
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
film Siberiade
Siberiade
Siberiade is a 1979 epic Soviet film in four parts, spanning much of the 20th century. The leading roles were played by the celebrated Soviet actors Nikita Mikhalkov and Lyudmila Gurchenko...
. He compared his use of the music to his having stolen money as a boy from his brother.
The title also refers to a mysterious orb of light, similar to ball lightning
Ball lightning
Ball lightning is an unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon. The term refers to reports of luminous, usually spherical objects which vary from pea-sized to several metres in diameter. It is usually associated with thunderstorms, but lasts considerably longer than the split-second flash of a...
, that appears at various points in the film. The postscript says the film is dedicated to those "burnt by the sun" of the Revolution ("weary with the sun" in the Russian title).
Historical influences
The character of Mitya resembles Nikolai SkoblinNikolai Skoblin
Nikolai Skoblin was a general in the counterrevolutionary White Russian army, a member of the expatriate Russian All-Military Union , a Soviet double agent, and husband to the gypsy folk-singer Nadezhda Plevitskaya ....
, a former White Army General who spied on his former comrades in France during the 1930s
1930s
File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...
. On September 22, 1937, Skoblin and his wife delivered General Evgenii Miller
Evgenii Miller
Evgeny Karlovich Miller was a Russian general and one of the leaders of the anti-communist White Army during and after Russian Civil War.-Biography:...
of the Russian All-Military Union
Russian All-Military Union
The Russian All-Military Union was founded by White Army General Pyotr Wrangel in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on September 1, 1924...
to the NKVD. General Miller was drugged, kidnapped, and smuggled aboard a Soviet ship in Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
harbor. The ship carried General Miller to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where he was tortured and executed.
Skoblin escaped to Republican Spain
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
, which refused to extradite him for trial in France. He is believed to have been murdered in Spain, France or on a Soviet ship on the orders of the NKVD. Skoblin's wife and handler, Nadezhda Plevitskaya
Nadezhda Plevitskaya
Nadezhda Vasilievna Plevitskaya was the most popular female Russian singer of the White emigration.-Early life and career:Plevitskaya was born Nadezhda Vasilievna Vinnikova to a peasant family in the village of Vinnikovo near Kursk...
, was arrested, convicted of kidnapping by a French court, and died in prison.
Sequel
Nikita MikhalkovNikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...
directed and reprised his role as Sergei Petrovich Kotov in his sequel, Burnt by the Sun 2
Burnt by the Sun 2
Burnt by the Sun 2 is a 2010 Russian drama film directed by and starring Nikita Mikhalkov. The film concists of two parts: : Exodus and Citadel . It is the sequel to Mikhalkov's 1994 film Burnt by the Sun, set in the Eastern Front of World War II...
. It competed for the Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
2010 Cannes Film Festival
The 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 12 to May 23, 2010, in Cannes, France. The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946. It consists of having films screened in and out of competition during the...
. Oleg Menshikov
Oleg Menshikov
Oleg Evgenyevich Menshikov ; is a Russian entertainer. He is a film and theatre actor, singer and director. He started his film career in the early 1980s playing in the comedy Pokrovskie vorota and in Nikita Mikhalkov's Rodnya....
and Nadezhda Mikhalkova
Nadezhda Mikhalkova
Nadezhda Mikhalkova is a Russian actress.Nadezhda is the youngest daughter of actor and film director Nikita Mikhalkov and fashion designer Tatyana Shigaeva. Her brother Artyom and sister Anna are also actors...
also reprised their roles from the original film.
Stage play
Playwright Peter FlanneryPeter Flannery
Peter Flannery is a British playwright and screenwriter. He was educated at Bath Spa University and is best known for his work while a resident playwright at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
's adapted the film as a stage drama by the same name. It opened at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, London, in March 2009. The cast included the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
actor Ciarán Hinds
Ciarán Hinds
Ciarán Hinds is an Irish film, television and stage actor. He has built up a reputation as a versatile character actor appearing in such high profile films as Road to Perdition, The Phantom of the Opera, Munich, There Will Be Blood and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. His television roles include...
as General Kotov, Rory Kinnear
Rory Kinnear
Rory Kinnear is an award-winning English actor who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.-Early life:...
as Mitya, and Michelle Dockery
Michelle Dockery
Michelle Dockery is an English actress of stage and screen. She has become best known for her role as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV drama series Downton Abbey...
as Maroussia.