Burnt by the Sun (1994)
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Burnt by the Sun Movie Review
Burnt by the Sun is a 1994 Russian period film directed by and starring Nikita Mikhalkov. It’s a solid and effective, but far from great movie.
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“Come on, let’s take the boat along the river“
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The film depicts the story of a senior Red Army officer, played by Mikhalkov, and his family during the Great Purge of the late 1930s in the Stalinist Soviet Union. Needless to say, this is one of those movies that are difficult to understand as they require a great knowledge of the history of this particular country and the movie itself doesn’t really help you with that either.
The problem I’ve had with it is that it’s pretty much another populist film which is charming and sweet without ever being particularly inspired or sophisticated in the vein of ‘Indochine’ and other early 90s foreign Oscar winners. The movie basically isn’t about anything in the entire first half and then only in the second half, particularly the third act, does the plot start unraveling and it’s then too late.
However, there is no denying that this movie is stronger than all of those earlier Oscar winners from this decade because it’s simply much more charming and this family I found really likable and eccentric. They are all solid, mostly endearing characters with Kotov being easily the highlight and I found Nikita Mikhalkov’s performance absolutely superb and very moving. The fact that he acted in and directed this movie simultaneously and did it so well is commendable.
There are many tender moments to be had in Burnt by the Sun with the rowboat scene being particularly sweet and simply wonderful. The entire time spent at the lake was very endearing. Again, the movie doesn’t really have much going for it in terms of the plot, but it has a lot of heart undoubtedly.
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The ending is memorable, but the third act should have been longer for sure. I liked the acting across the board, the direction’s also strong and the cinematography is superb as the movie looks really good. But the pacing issues abound here and the storytelling is far from great. The fact that this movie got an Oscar over amazing ‘Strawberry and Chocolate’ really hurts.
Burnt by the Sun has many tender sequences as it’s truly an endearing film with a lot of heart. Nikita Mikhalkov is stupendous both as an actor and in the directorial chair. However, the plot is thin and the pacing issues abound here. It’s a solid film which is never great and it should have never won an Oscar over terrific ‘Strawberry and Chocolate’.
