perica-43151 Despite its dark subject matter, this is a very positive and heart warming movie. It shows Stalinism without the Western propaganda, through the lens of great Soviet people that made everything good even under Stalin possible. An ode of love to the great Russian and Soviet nation. Definitely recommended.

tomb_92 I'd never actually seen an Academy Award Best Foreign Language winner until I saw this and my hopes were pretty high. I have to say I was a little disappointed. Firstly, the film was beautiful to watch. The locations really showed off the sheer beauty of Russia (I presume it was shot in Russia, and secondly the whole thing really did feel like a piece of art- carefully crafted and lovingly put together. I applaud the making of. However, the acting quality was inconsistent. Mikhalkov was very good at the lovable "uncle Jo" figure. Every moment he was on screen his presence felt commanding despite the kind jolly figure he played. I think that Oleg Menshikov stole the show. His portrayal of a bitter, vengeful man started off very subtle until he built it into something of a madman at the end, was brilliant. Mikhalkova was also wonderful to watch as the young girl, innocent and sweet, yet curious and smart. I do feel that some of the supporting cast were a little pointless, a few of them need not have been there perhaps, it added to the confusion of the film. Next, the story was really gripping, once it got going. I have no problem with a film starting slow and moving and a slow pace but this film of just over 2 hours felt like well over 2 and a half. I did thing the story was really interesting and once I got into it I really did feel the terror of Stalin's brutal regime. It was also an interesting film morally, I constantly felt myself drawn between the two main characters, not sure who to root for, which I felt was wrong because it was kind of obvious, I felt, who was supposed to be the villain. The ending also felt a little odd. With all of the build up that finally got going I felt that the ending was too underwhelming. I felt a little let down, I kind of got the message about Stalin but I felt that after all the build up it kind of didn't go anywhere. It was still a really good film and well worth watching for the performance of the leads and the scenery.

gizmomogwai Like the Italian film Life Is Beautiful which came three years later, Burnt by the Sun is an excellent foreign movie combining humour and colourful characters to depict tragedy in the first half of the twentieth century. Burnt focuses on Russia in 1936, just before the Great Purge. This movie isn't as funny as the beginning of Life Is Beautiful, but some whimsical discussion is heard of summer Santas and wizards; there's piano playing with a gas mask; there's a question about leaving the zoo. But this is a mostly serious movie. It shows a very close relationship between a Russian colonel, Kotov, and his young daughter Nadya. Then it bluntly shows Kotov being arrested, torn from her life. In this way, Burnt by the Sun reveals the human tragedy of Stalin's paranoia and purges.There's more- though Kotov is a man destroyed by the Soviet Union, the unfortunate irony is that he was actually a patriotic and loyal Soviet. The scene where he and his daughter are on a boat underlines that fact, and makes what happens later look tragically needless.I first saw this gem in a university class on the Soviet Union. It came with a disclaimer from the professor that sending people to summer homes of Stalin's victims was not the way the Purges were really done. Like Life Is Beautiful, we have to bend realism a bit, but it's worth it. I'm not sure if this movie needed the mysterious orb of light; when I saw it hovering over a field, I asked my professor if it was going to make a crop circle. Actually it was just symbolism. The ball of light and the sun mentioned in the title are the Russian Revolution, and this movie is about people burnt by it. Equating the Revolution to something warm and bright makes me wonder if the Revolution is seen in this movie as a mostly good thing; but this movie shows there were also negative consequences. Orb of light or no orb of light, this movie is still memorable and wonderful.

imdbfriend Burnt by the sun is one of those rare movies which take the viewers by complete surprise by the time it enters climax scenes. For more than first half of the movie we see a highly decorated Russian officer in his summer house with his family spending his day off in bath, beaches, playing football, dancing. During this time, an unexpected guest arrive in the house but then soon we know who he is and how he is connected to this house (although we don't know why he is there) and we again are lost in a lazy summer day in Russia listening to stories, songs, dancing. Then as we move on story starts to unfold before us and we are for a shock, especially last ten minutes, which for me, was one of the most powerful and harsh realization of history on cinema ever. It completely took me off guard after watching movie till that point, although there was this element that something is gonna happen, but I by no means expected this. As a viewer, I was lost for most part with so much peace around and little interference of the government in the movie that I forget not just what period it is set in, but the place too, as we are use to seeing the kind of Russian life during revolution and war times which is nothing but tragic. I guess movie did it part in not just portraying troubled soviet history but very convincingly showed us that even though people might have done bad deeds but during those period it was safe that way for them and their family. For them it was all about survival,living was secondary, but I can only guess as in current time I don't have to worry about survival but I worry about living. I sincerely salute every soul who lived through that sad period of history.Acting wise all actors were good but I must admit the little Nadya was amazing as the daughter of Nikita Mikhalkov colonel's daughter (she is his real life daughter) and she impresses us with her innocence, cuteness and boldness at times with elders (not rudeness, its just innocence of a child) throughout the movie. The scenes between Nadya and her father are one of the best aspects of the movie. Direction is top class. Music suits to the mood of the movie. Highly Recommended!!