Burnt by the Sun

Burnt by the Sun (, translit. Utomlyonnye solntsem, literally "wearied by the sun") is a 1994 Russian drama film directed, written, produced and starring by Nikita Mikhalkov and co-written by Azerbaijani screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov. 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. While on vacation with his wife, young daughter, and assorted friends and family, things change dramatically for Colonel Kotov when his wife's old lover, Dmitri, shows up after being away for many years. The film also stars Oleg Menshikov, Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė and Mikhalkov's daughter Nadezhda Mikhalkova. Burnt by the Sun was popular in Russia and received positive reviews in the United States. It won the Grand Prix at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and other honours. Plot The entirety of the film takes place within the course of one day in the summer of 1936 in the Soviet Union. After witnessing Mitya contemplate suicide, the film cuts to Komdiv Sergei Petrovich Kotov, his wife Maroussia, and their young six-year-old daughter Nadia relaxing in a banya when a peasant from the local collective farm frantically tells them the Red Army's tanks are about to crush the wheat harvest as part of general maneuvers. After hearing this news, Kotov rides out to order the tank officer to halt. Kotov carries authority as a senior Old Bolshevik and legendary hero of the 1917 Russian Civil War, and he is also very popular with the common people and local villagers. The opening scene makes it clear that Kotov is a devoted family man, and he claims to be a personal friend of Stalin. Following this incident, the happy family returns to their country dacha (country estate), where they join Maroussia's relatives, a large and eccentric family of Chekhovian aristocrats. However, Mitya (Dmitri), an ex-nobleman and veteran of the anti-communist White Army soon arrives after being away for roughly ten years. He was Maroussia's fiancé before disappearing in 1927. He shows up in a costume to disguise himself, but when he takes it off he is joyfully embraced by the family and introduced to Nadia as "Uncle Mitya". Maroussia is left feeling deeply conflicted, as she had suffered deeply when he left without explanation and even contemplated suicide as seen through the self-inflicted marks on her wrists.