The story of "Burnt by the sun" is easily told. Two men (Colonel Kotov played by Nikita Mikhalkov himself and Dimitri played by Oleg Menshikov) are in love with the same woman (Marusya played by Ingeborga Dapkunaite). They use their position in the army to fight their romantic war. First Colonel Kotov (the older one) sends his rival in love and his subordinate in the army on a far away mission. Later (when Colonel Kotov and Marusya are already married) Dimitri returns. At that moment he is an agent of the secret police and gets Colonel Kotov arrested.
In the center of the love triangle is daughter Nadya (played by the real daugter of Nikita Mikhalkov). During the movie one gets more and more the impression that she is not the biological daughter of Colonel Kotov, but of Dimitri.
Symbol of the arrest of Colonel Kotov is a black limousine. Despite the fact that the film is rather predictable, the scene in which the limousine rides in front of the house to pick up Colonel Kotov is nevertheless tense. Officially it is a business trip, but everybody (with the exception of Nadya) knows that this is a one way trip. For the sake of Nadya they are keeping up appearances.
In "Burnt by the sun" Mikhalkov tries to contrast:
The geniality of a summer on the countryside in the family datsja. The ruthlessnes of the manipulations in the top of the army where nobody, thanks to Stalins fickleness, can feel entirely safe. In the beginning of the movie Colonel Kotov thinks, thanks to his status of war hero in the Russian civil war (1917 - 1922), that he is immune. He is mistaken.
"Burnt by the sun" won the Oscar for best foreign language movie in 1994. Given the obvious weaknesses I think this is a bit to much honor.
The film is rather slow. The first hour is mainly attributed to the summer on the countryside. This is interspersed with some rather silly humor. The film is rather predictable. The relation between Kotov and Dimitri passes through three stages. (1) Dimitri arrives as an old friend (2) One suspects that there is an unfinished history between Kotov and Dimitri (3) The final showdown. Between the stages there expires a lot of time and (too) many hints are given.
In the center of the love triangle is daughter Nadya (played by the real daugter of Nikita Mikhalkov). During the movie one gets more and more the impression that she is not the biological daughter of Colonel Kotov, but of Dimitri.
Symbol of the arrest of Colonel Kotov is a black limousine. Despite the fact that the film is rather predictable, the scene in which the limousine rides in front of the house to pick up Colonel Kotov is nevertheless tense. Officially it is a business trip, but everybody (with the exception of Nadya) knows that this is a one way trip. For the sake of Nadya they are keeping up appearances.
In "Burnt by the sun" Mikhalkov tries to contrast:
The geniality of a summer on the countryside in the family datsja. The ruthlessnes of the manipulations in the top of the army where nobody, thanks to Stalins fickleness, can feel entirely safe. In the beginning of the movie Colonel Kotov thinks, thanks to his status of war hero in the Russian civil war (1917 - 1922), that he is immune. He is mistaken.
"Burnt by the sun" won the Oscar for best foreign language movie in 1994. Given the obvious weaknesses I think this is a bit to much honor.
The film is rather slow. The first hour is mainly attributed to the summer on the countryside. This is interspersed with some rather silly humor. The film is rather predictable. The relation between Kotov and Dimitri passes through three stages. (1) Dimitri arrives as an old friend (2) One suspects that there is an unfinished history between Kotov and Dimitri (3) The final showdown. Between the stages there expires a lot of time and (too) many hints are given.