MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Utomlyonnye solntsem (Burnt by the Sun)

Burnt by the Sun is the Russian movie which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film this year. The director (Nikita Mikhalkov who made Slave of Love, among others) dedicates it to all those who have been burned by the sun of the Soviet revolution. It is beautifully photographed with the bright haze of nostalgia. Most of the film is a joyful observation of an extended family’s happy times in a countryside dacha during the summer of 1936. We learn that Sergei is a colonel and a hero of the revolution. Most of what we see is through the eyes of his young and too-cute-to-be-true daughter Nadia. In this way, it’s not unlike such films as Fanny and Alexander. (I thought Sergei looked a bit old to be Nadia’s father, but then I read in the program notes that Mikhalkov himself played Sergei and that Nadia really is his daughter.) Since this film is about Stalin’s Soviet Union, however, we shouldn’t be too surprised if the film takes a dark turn by the end. This movie really is beautifully made and very heart-felt. The Academy chose well. (Seen 21 May 1995)