Burnt by the Sun 2

Burnt by the Sun 2: Prestanding
Directed by	Nikita Mikhalkov
Produced by	Nikita Mikhalkov
Written by	Nikita Mikhalkov
Starring	Nikita Mikhalkov Oleg Menshikov
Cinematography	Vladislav Opelyants
Editing by	Svetolik Zajc
Studio	Three T Productions
Distributed by	Central Partnership
Release date(s)	22 April 2010 (2010-04-22)
Running time	181 minutes
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Budget	$55,000,000
Box office	$8,266,778

Burnt by the Sun 2 (Russian: Утомлённые солнцем 2, translit. Utomlyonnye solntsem 2: Predstoyanie) is a 2010 Russian drama film directed by and starring Nikita Mikhalkov. The film concists of two parts: : Exodus (Предстояние, literally 'Prestanding') and Citadel (Цитадель). It is the sequel to Mikhalkov's 1994 film Burnt by the Sun, set in the Eastern Front of World War II. Burnt by the Sun 2 had the largest production budget ever seen in the Russian cinema ($55 mln), but it turned out to be Russia's biggest box office flop, and received negative reviews from critics both in Russia and abroad.

Plot

Exodus

The film begins in June 1941. Five years have passed since the lives and destinies of General Kotov, his wife Maroussia, their daughter Nadia, as well as those of Mitia and the Sverbitski family, were irrevocably changed: it has meant five years of incarceration for General Kotov (Nikita Mikhalkov), the former Revolutionary hero betrayed by Stalin. He escapes certain death in the Gulag and fights on the Eastern Front as a private.

It has been five years of terror for his wife Maroussia, without the husband she believes is dead and with a daughter who has rejected her. Nadia has spent five years in hiding, proud of her father whom she refuses to disown and whom she believes is alive, despite all reports to the contrary.

Mitya (Oleg Menshikov)survived his suicide attempt, and reluctantly continues to execute the orders of a regime he holds in contempt. Stalin, with his nation under attack by former ally Adolf Hitler, recalls many of those whom he has had executed or exiled to the GULAG. He tries to mobilize the Soviet population - by any means necessary - to rise against the threat of Nazism.

Cast

• Nikita Mikhalkov as Col. Sergei Petrovich Kotov
• Oleg Menshikov as Mitya
• Mikhail Efremov as
• Dmitri Dyuzhev as Vanya
• Vladimir Ilyin as Kirik
• Yevgeny Mironov as Izyumov
• Nadezhda Mikhalkova as Nadya
• Andrey Merzlikin as Nikolaj
• Andrey Panin as Kravets
• Sergei Makovetsky as Lunin
• Viktoriya Tolstoganova as Marusia
• Angelina Mirimskaya as Lyuba
• Tagir Rakhimov as Cameo

Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews from both Russian and western critics. It was panned for historical inaccuracies, retconning, bad acting and other failures. It was criticized for abruptly breaking with the continuity of the first film, including mysteriously resurrecting characters presumed dead and changing their ages. For example, according to the first film, Nadia would have been 11 in 1941, but she is portrayed as an adult.

Critics panned many provocative episodes, such as a German pilot defecating on a Russian ship, or Kotov's dipping Stalin into a cake. The Russian media reviews were especially hostile to the film, because of its revisionist portrayal of Russian army and Soviet leaders. As web publicist Dmitry Puchkov noted, "like any other nation, Russians don't want to see their fathers portrayed as shit.". Western critics were mostly negative as well. The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt criticized the film for "sticking too closely to the Kremlin's approved version of World War II and for its promotion of orthodox Christianity." An American film critic likened its portrayal of the madness of World War II to the American Joseph Heller's Catch 22.

Burnt by the Sun 2: Prestanding had the highest-ever budget for a Russian film ($55 million) but made a very poor box-office showing, despite heavy promotion that included a premiere inside the Moscow Kremlin.

The film was screened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and was allowed to compete for awards, although it had premiered before the festival. At Cannes it received a standing ovation, but no awards.

The Russian opposition activist Valeria Novodvorskaya said that despite her complete disagreement with the political views of Mikhalkov (who expresses support towards Putin) and despite the film's being "artistically ungifted", she believed it is a good depiction of the first stages of the war against Germany. It shows how badly the Red Army was prepared for war because of Stalin's poor strategic skills.

A third associated Burnt by the Sun film is expected to open in Europe and the United States in 2011.

In September 2011, the Russian Film Committee selected Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel as the Russian nominee for Academy Awards. This move was followed with protests and disagreement from many filmmakers, including another Academy Awards recipient Vladimir Menshov and Mikhalkov's brother director Andrey Konchalovsky.

See also

• List of submissions to the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Russian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus at the Internet Movie Database
• Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel at the Internet Movie Database
• Kinopoisk.ru
• Russian director defends "Burnt by the Sun" sequel