White Sun of the Desert

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White Sun of the Desert
Directed by Vladimir Motyl
Produced by Experimental Studio of Mosfilm
Written by Valentin Yezhov
Rustam Ibragimbekov
Starring Anatoly Kuznetsov
Spartak Mishulin
Pavel Luspekaev
Music by Isaak Schwarz (song lyrics by Bulat Okudzhava)
Cinematography Eduard Rozovsky
Distributed by Lenfilm
Mosfilm
Release date(s) 1969
Running time 85 min.
Country Soviet Union
Language Russian

White sun of the desert (Russian: Белое солнце пустыни; Beloye solntse pustyni) (1969), a classic 'Eastern' or Ostern film of the Soviet Union.

White Sun of the Desert is one of the most popular Russian films of all time. Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama has made it wildly successful and it has since achieved the status of a cult film in Soviet and Russian culture. The film has contributed many sayings to the Russian language (see below). Its main theme song, "Your Excellency Lady Luck" (Ваше благородие, госпожа Удача, music: Isaak Schwarz, lyrics: Bulat Okudzhava) became a huge hit. The film is ritually watched by cosmonauts before many space launches[1] . The director, Vladimir Motyl, said such films as Stagecoach and High Noon influenced him and he has described the film as being a "cocktail" of both an adventurous Russian folktale and a western. Initially several directors, including Andrei Tarkovsky and Andrei Konchalovsky, were offered the film but they turned it down, Motyl claims, for two main reasons. Firstly, Konchalovsky thought only American actors could pull off the part of a lead role in a western, and secondly the screenplay was considered weak. Motyl, whose family had been in social exile under Stalin's rule[2], was offered the screenplay and decided to make the best of his chance. He consequently rewrote a large part of the screenplay, and all the dialogue for Pavel Luspekaev's character, Vereshchagin, was written immediately before shooting began[2]. The screenwriters published the book under the same title. A Russian computer game was released based on the film. In 1998 the creators of the film were awarded the 1997 Russian Federation State Prize in Literature and Arts, nearly 30 years after the film left the silver screen.

Contents

[edit] Plot

VHS cover

The setting is the east shore of the Caspian Sea (today's Turkmenistan) where the Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov has been fighting the Civil War in Russian Asia for a number of years. After being hospitalised and then demobbed, he sets off home to join his wife, only to be caught up in a desert fight between a Red Army cavalry unit and Basmachi guerrillas. The cavalry unit commander, Rahimov, "convinces" Sukhov to help, temporarily, with the protection of abandoned women of the Basmachi guerilla leader Abdullah's harem. Leaving a young Red Army soldier, Petrukha, to assist Sukhov with the task, Rahimov and his cavalry unit set out to pursue fleeing Abdullah.

Sukhov and women from Abdullah's harem return to a nearby shore town. Soon, looking for a seaway across the border, Abdullah and his gang come to the same town...

[edit] Popular quotes

Spartak Mishulin as Sayid

Many popular sayings have entered the Russian language from the film. The first is by far the best known.

  • The East is a delicate matter (Восток — дело тонкое); refers to any complicated or difficult matter, not necessarily "eastern" in nature.
  • Customs gives the green light ("Таможня дает добро!"); refers to any type of approval, especially reluctant approval.
  • His grenades are of a wrong system or He's got the wrong kind of grenades ("Да гранаты у него не той системы"); refers to or to comment upon any kind of excuse, particularly a pathetic one. The line wasn't scripted, but improvised by the actor.
  • Gyulchatai, show your sweet face ("Гюльчатай, открой личико"); a popular Russian saying for boys to say to girls.
  • I'm sorry about the Empire ("За державу обидно"); refers to the weak state of Russia, which used to be a superpower, used again in political context since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[edit] Main cast

[edit] Cosmonaut tradition

The film is part of traditional space rituals among Cosmonauts. Charles Simonyi, the fifth space tourist, watched the film before beginning his trip to space.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Kosmonavtika". http://suzymchale.com/kosmonavtka/ceremonies.html. Retrieved on 2007-01-21. 
  2. ^ a b "Владимир Мотыль interview" (in Russian). http://www.peoples.ru/art/cinema/producer/motyl/interview.html. Retrieved on 2007-01-23. 
  3. ^ BBC: American space 'nerd' blasts off Saturday, 7 April 2007

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sun_of_the_Desert"
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